Brazil stops tax on wheat, bread

The finance ministry also said late Wednesday that an import tax on wheat will remain suspended until August 31, and a maritime tax on wheat shipments will be lifted until the end of the year.

The government will lose about $300m in revenues as a result, the ministry said in a statement.

The measures target surging inflation in Brazil, where the official IPCA consumer price index through April was 5%.

The price of bread, consumed daily by most Brazilians, has accounted for 0.25% of inflation in the past 12 months, according to the ministry.

Local wheat prices have risen sharply, reflecting rising international prices as well as a wheat export ban imposed by neighboring Argentina, Brazil's main supplier.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is expected to issue a decree instituting the changes on Monday.

- AP