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Inflation in Brazil edged higher to 4.14 percent year-on-year in March, official data showed Friday, driven by higher fuel costs amid a global energy shock prompted by the war in the Middle East.<\/strong><\/p>\n The main driver of higher inflation was the price of gasoline, which rose 4.59 percent in March, driving up transport costs, according to the IBGE statistics agency.<\/p>\n Diesel essential for freight transport rose 13.9 percent. Brazil imports nearly 30 percent of the diesel it consumes.<\/p>\n The cost of food, which is driven upward by higher transport costs, rose 1.56 percent.<\/p>\n \u201cIn certain sub-categories \u2014 particularly fuels \u2014 the impact of uncertainties in the international landscape is already being felt,\u201d IBGE manager Fernando Goncalves said in a statement.<\/p>\n Iran has blocked traffic through the Strait of Hormuz \u2014 a waterway used to carry a fifth of the world\u2019s oil and gas deliveries \u2014 since the United States and Israel began bombing the country in February.<\/p>\n