The accumulated inflation in Brazil reached 3.14 percent in 2006, the lowest annual inflation registered over the past eight years, local media said on Friday.

The figure is significantly below the 4.5-percent target set by the Federal Government's economic committee for 2006, which allows ups and downs of up to two percentage points.

Last year's inflation was 2.55 percentage points below the index in 2005when accumulated inflation reached 5.69 percent.

Since the government started setting annual inflation targets in 1999, they have fulfilled the aims five times. The 2006 performance was the most successful since 1998 when inflation was only 1.65 percent.

Economist Eulina Nunes of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) said that the year 2006 is the landmark of the end of inflationary culture. And she does not expect the scenario to change drastically in 2007.

In Brazil, inflation is measured by the IPCA index. It is released every month by IBGE.

Source: Xinhua