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While global inflation stabilizes at 0.6% per month, Argentina rises to 7.7%

2023-04-17T02:37:19.231Z


It even surpasses all the countries in the region. The consultants worsened their projections. April will be twice the official goal.


Inflation once again put Argentina in an uncomfortable place and placed it in

one of the worst positions in the world.

It is that the monthly increase of 7.7% registered in March was well above and far from the median value of a

ranking of 38 countries, where it stabilized around 0.6%

in the same period, according to a survey carried out by Nadin Argañaraz, head of the Institute for Fiscal Analysis (IARAF).

"Inflation in Argentina reached 5.1% in December, 6.0% in January, 6.6% in February and 7.7% in March. The gap between Argentine monthly inflation and the average for the rest of the The sample considered was 7.1 percentage points in March, higher than the previous months. With the March data, Argentina consolidates an

average annual inflation of 60.9% in the last four years

," said Argañaraz.

The INDEC data showed an acceleration in recent months without pause, which left the rate at a level

even higher than in July last year

, when the Minister of Economy, Martín Guzmán, resigned.

Argentina thus contrasted with the performance of the rest of the countries.

While most had positive monthly inflation,

three countries had negative inflation

: Bolivia, Denmark, and China.

And only nine countries had inflation above 1.0%.

In year-on-year terms, inflation in March

reached the highest record in more than 30 years.

It exceeded double digits and the 94.8% mark registered in 2022, which placed Argentina on the podium of the countries with the worst performance also in that measurement.

"Considering the interannual variation of March 2023, Argentina (104.3%), Turkey (55.2%) and Hungary (25.1%) stand out in the sample considered," indicated the IARAF.

The rest of the countries, meanwhile, have year-on-year inflation of less than 18%, with 10 nations with values ​​less than 5%, such as Brazil and Bolivia.

Inflation in the main partner of Mercosur maintains its downward trend and in March registered a monthly variation of 0.7% and an annual increase of 4.65%.

Both measurements are lower than those registered in February, when it rose 0.8% monthly and 5.6% year-on-year.

The rise in prices led the Central Bank of Brazil to raise the interest rate, a decision that the Central Bank in Argentina will now have to evaluate given the failure of the latest measures.

"The overheating of prices leaves the Central Bank with the need to accelerate the devaluation of the official exchange rate and probably also raise interest rates if we take into account that inflation in April would be close to 7%," said a report from Delphos.

The higher-than-expected data surprised the Government.

The Minister of Economy, Sergio Massa, expected inflation to start in April with a "3 ahead" in April and 60% for the whole year, something that has already become a dead letter.

The government's reaction was

to blame stores and supermarkets,

where price agreements are not in force.

While the Minister of Labor, Raquel Olmos, linked it to the drought and the lack of foreign currency.

And the Chief of Staff, Agustín Rossi, confessed: "We thought that we had controlled it in the last quarter of last year

."

For April.

the consultancies expect a slowdown in inflation,

although without piercing 6.5% per month.

"In the month the increases in public transport in AMBA (+6.6% for buses and trains), electricity rates, private schools (+3.8%, according to the agreement), prepaid (+2.4% ), fuels (+4% since April 15) and domestic service (+14%)", estimated Ecolatina.


On the other hand, they forecast higher inflation for the whole year.

between

110 and 120%

.

"All this in the midst of the uncertainty that the electoral transition will cause, with potential tensions regarding the gap and devaluation expectations that would exert additional pressure, exacerbated by the pronounced impact of the drought on the availability of foreign currency and in the face of a "Prices Fair" that little will be able to influence this dynamic," said Ecolatina.

Source: clarin

All business articles on 2023-04-17

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