Brazil’s Gasoline Tax Cut Is Mostly Benefiting the Middle Class

Brazil’s middle class is benefiting the most from gasoline tax cuts pushed by President Jair Bolsonaro, while costlier food staples add to the pain of the poor and more expensive airfare weigh on the budget of the wealthy.

Consumer prices plunged 0.83% for the middle classes in July, more than the 0.68% monthly fall recorded by Brazil’s benchmark IPCA index, according to data published Friday by the National Institute of Applied Economic Research. In comparison, the poorest experienced a more modest 0.34% drop in prices and the richest, a 0.42% decline.

July’s negative inflation readings followed ...