SAO PAULO, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Brazil's consumer prices rose by more than expected in the month to mid-February, data from government statistics agency IBGE showed on Friday, with annual inflation remaining well above target after speculation that the goal could be boosted.
The country's IPCA-15 consumer price index (BRIPCA=ECI) rose 0.76% in the month to mid-February, up from 0.55% in the previous month, while economists polled by Reuters had forecast a 0.72% increase.
Annual inflation reached 5.63%, down from 5.87% a month earlier but also above the 5.6% forecast by economists.
The latest data follows a clash between President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and central bank governor Roberto Campos Neto over high interest rates, when speculation of a potential government move to boost inflation targets emerged.
Brazil has an inflation target of 3.25% this year and 3% in 2024 and 2025, in all cases with a 1.5-point tolerance band.
Campos Neto defended the central bank's autonomy to pursue targets by hiking rates, currently at a six-year high of 13.75%, while Lula has said lending costs were far too high given the inflation trajectory, hindering economic growth.
The country's top economic policy council earlier this month decided to put off the discussion by announcing no new resolutions regarding its inflation targets, but it may still review the targets at any time.
Some of Brazil's top hedge fund managers have recently dubbed the inflation goals "unrealistic" and "too ambitious" to be met, calling for an upward change.
