The data was not what Javier Milei expected: inflation in Argentina was 4.2% in August and reached 236.7% year-on-year. For four months now, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) has been stable at around 4 percentage points, despite the deep adjustment applied by the Government and the recession of economic activity. In July, the lowest figure was recorded since Milei became president, with 4% inflation. Before, it had been 4.6% in June and 4.2% in May, far from the resounding 25.5% with which the current far-right Administration began its mandate last December.
The Government had forecast a rate of slightly less than 4 percentage points, to continue showing progress in its fight against inflation – although even in that scenario it considered that it would be a lower drop than desired. Private consulting firms and the Central Bank’s Market Expectations Survey also anticipated inflation of close to 3.9%. But the reality was different. The report released this Wednesday by the Central Bank National Institute of Statistics and Census (INDEC) showed an increase compared to the previous month and revealed that accumulated inflation so far in 2024 climbs to 94.8%.
The monthly price increase was driven by the rise in rents, rates for basic services and fuels. “The division with the highest increase in the month was housing, water, electricity and other fuels (7%),” detailed the Indec report.
Other areas with increases above the average were education (6.6%), due to the rise in the different levels and types of education; and transport (5.1%), due to increases in public passenger transport.
The division with the highest incidence in all regions of the country – except in the Greater Buenos Aires area – was food and non-alcoholic beverages, whose prices rose by 3.6%. In some areas of the country, meat and its derivatives rose more, while in others, vegetables, tubers and legumes.
However, in Greater Buenos Aires, where the country’s capital and the populous Buenos Aires suburbs are grouped, the area with the highest population density, the greatest impact on price increases was in the transportation sector.
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