In the midst of the strong rise in prices that does not give up and after 94.8% in the twelve months of 2022, the January inflation was 6%, according to the consumer price index (CPI) released Tuesday by the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INDEC). The figure implies that the accumulation year-over-year amounts to 98.8%.
As expected, the figure was higher than the 5.1% recorded last December.
Of all the components of the index, the increase in the Leisure and culture division stands out: 9% in January. “Mainly due to the impact of increased tourist services as a result of the holiday season and cable television service,” the agency said.
Other items with notable increases were Housing, Water, Electricity and Other Fuels (8.0%), “due largely to increases in public service tariffs”, and Communications (8.0%), “due to the increase in telephone and internet services.
In any case, due to its weight in the index, the division that had the greatest impact on January’s 6% was Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages, in particular Fruits and Vegetables, tubers and legumes.
So far, the highest CPI of Alberto Fernández’s entire management was the indicator for the month of July when it reached 7.4%, being the highest score since April 2002, when it reached 10.4%. .
With the inflation numbers for the month of December on the table, finally the 2022 was the highest rate in 32 years. The slowdown in recent months prevented it from exceeding the 100% threshold, but although the final figure was close to that figure, it largely exceeded the 83% of 1991, the year the Convertibility was launched.
Before the official figures were released, the Secretary of Industry, Ignacio de Mendigurenhad acknowledged that inflation in January would exceed 5%, while private advisers estimated it in the range of 5.5 to 6%.
“Unfortunately we see that the figure [de la inflación de enero] is higher than the previous month, which worries us,” De Mendiguren underlined in dialogue with AM 750.
After falling to 4.9% in November, the CPI rose to 5.1% in December despite the extension of the price agreements. Now, advisers polled by the Central Bank expect 97.6% inflation for 2023, higher than 94.8% in 2022.
De Mendiguren attributed the rise in inflation to a “record” movement in tourism and “seasonal problems”. In this sense, he explained the national official: “Undoubtedly when this happens prices are abused, often the limit is set by purchasing power, people buy the same despite the prices they cannot validate”.
The truth is that, after picking up again in December, inflation is once again worrying the national executive. An acceleration in food prices, seasonal hikes and various regulated prices drive the inflation needle to a mark close to 6% per month.
In this framework, the national government seeks, through programs such as Fair Prices, that inflation does not exceed 30% in the first half of the year since the 2023 Budget provides for prices to increase at a rate of 60%.
The Survey of Market Expectations (REM) prepared by the Central Bank predicts that by June of this year the CPI will be at 64.6%, which means that by mid-year the 60% inflation target set by the government for the whole year.
DS
Source: Clarin
