Inflation in Argentina slows down in November; would close the year at more than 50%

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) in Argentina marked a rise of 2.5% in November compared to the previous month, driven by the strong increase in hotels and gastronomy (5%), clothing and footwear (4.1%), and home equipment and maintenance (2.7 percent).

This was reported by the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (Indec), also highlighting that annualized inflation closed last month at 51.2%, and thus is heading to end the year at levels above 50%, as they have been predicting most analysts.

Core inflation, which reflects the variation in prices discounting the effect of seasonal and regulated prices, nevertheless stood at 3.3%, putting pressure on the December price level.

Seasonal products advanced 0.5%, registering a significant drop compared to the 8.1% they had in October, especially due to the sharp decline in vegetables, and to a lesser extent in fruits and clothing.

For their part, regulated prices did so at 1%, at a time when the prices of utility rates and fuels are still frozen. Fuel prices were not corrected either, and last month there was no increase in prepayments as there was in the previous three months. Thus, the expectation is what will happen when those prices are updated.

A relevant fact is that in November the food and beverages item registered an increase of 2.1%, below the general level. Despite this, in recent days from different sectors have been alerting for increases in beef and dairy before the Holidays.

Official offices highlight that the monthly variation of food and beverages shows a marked decrease in relation to the 3.4% registered in October, with a slowdown in almost all items, due to the incidence of the Care Prices program.

The Secretary of Domestic Trade, Roberto Feletti, shared his definitions on Tuesday about the price freeze and its continuity, the value of meat and inflation. Speaking to Radio 10 and El Uncover Radio, the official said this morning that “price compliance is higher than 90 percent.” However, he clarified that towards the interior of the province it tends to decrease.

“The program was carried out in the large chains and the provinces added regional production to the program. The program did not fail,” emphasized Feletti, while stating that “there cannot be an indefinite freeze.”

Regarding inflation in November, Feletti pointed out: “from what the consulting firms and our surveys say, inflation should be lower than September and October.” And in that sense, he opined that “a success in today’s inflation number would be if it did not exceed 3%.”



Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx

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