Chile consumer prices up by higher-than-expected 1.4% in April

　　div classBodysc17zpet90 cdBBJodivpSANTIAGO Reuters – Chile‘s consumer prices rose 1.4 in April boosted by rising costs in food and nonalcoholic beverages, the government’s statistics agency said on Friday.p

　　pThe figure, which was also driven by rising leisure and education prices, was higher than the 1.0 rise expected in a Reuters poll of economists, but came in below the 1.9 increase seen in the previous month.pdivdivdiv classBodysc17zpet90 cdBBJodiv

　　pAccording to the National Statistics Institute, 12month inflation was 10.5, far above the central banks target rate of 2 to 4.p

　　pThe data comes a day after Chile‘s central bank hiked the country’s interest rate by 125 basis points to 8.25 as it tries to rein in high consumer prices.p

　　pThat was the latest in a series of hikes by the bank since the middle of last year to curb inflation as the Andean copper producers economy has bounced back strongly from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.p

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　　pp Reporting by Fabian Andres Cambero and Gabriel Araujo. Editing by Jane Merriman and Frank Jack Danielp

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