Food prices in Latin America, Caribbean rise 1.2 pct in September

Last Updated on Monday, 3 November 2014, 22:22 by GxMedia

Santiago, Nov 3 (EFE).- The inflation of food prices in Latin America and the Caribbean rose 1.2 percent last September, 0.4 percent more than in August and one of the highest rates for any category in 2014, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, or FAO, reported Monday.

In its monthly report on prices, the FAO said that the price of meat increased in September and influenced the overall rise in food inflation, while the price of potatoes declined in several countries of the region.

A drop in overall food prices in September was seen in Costa Rica (0.5 percent), El Salvador (0.5 percent), Honduras (0.2 percent) and Nicaragua (0.7 percent).

On the contrary, food inflation grew in Guatemala (0.2 percent), Mexico (1.0 percent), Panama (0.7 percent) and the Dominican Republic (0.7 percent)

Of the South American countries observed during the month of September, Bolivia and Paraguay showed the least inflation of food prices compared with the month before, with a decrease of 1.6 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively.

Ecuador saw no change in food prices, which increased in Argentina (1.1 percent), Brazil (0.8 percent), Chile (2.1 percent), Colombia (0.2 percent), Peru (0.4 percent) and Uruguay (1.8 percent).