THE January inflation was 20.6% this was revealed by the consumer price index (CPI) released on Wednesday by the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INDEC). This is the first measurement of the year and the second to be released since Javier Milei took over the leadership of the National Executive on 10 December.
According to forecasts, it recorded a decline compared to the December index. THE Interannual inflation was 254.2%.
The consumer price index had recorded an increase of 25.5% in December, closing the year with a price increase of 211.4%. The record for the last month of the year in Argentina was the highest since March 1990 and inter-annual inflation was the highest since May 1991. In November, the CPI had jumped 12.8%.
In the January CPI, the division with the largest increase in the month was Various goods and services (44.4%), product of the increase in Personal Care items. This is followed by Transport (26.3%) – due to the increase in public transport and the slowdown of the increase in fuel – and Communications (25.1%), due to the increase in telephone and internet services.
But, due to its weight in the construction of the index, the sector with the highest incidence in all regions is that of Food and non-alcoholic drinks (20.4%). Within the sector, the increases in Meat and derivatives and Bread and cereals stand out.
Below the general level are the sectors Healthcare (20.5%), Food and non-alcoholic drinks (20.4%), Restaurants and hotels (19.4%), Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels ( 14%), Clothing and footwear (11.9%) and Education (0.9%, in the middle of the summer break).
In the regional comparison, Patagonia was the one that ranked first: inflation at 24.2% in January. They were followed by Cuyo (22.3%), Northwest (21.7%), Pampa Region (21.2%), Greater Buenos Aires (19.6%) and Northeast (19.5%).
With this Wednesday’s release, private estimates were verified, which predicted that the price increase would be between 20% and 23%, below the official figure from the previous month. In the forecasts there was talk of a small slowdown in the third week of the month as the key to the slight decline.
For its part, the Central Bank’s first Market Expectations Survey (REM) of the year, published in recent days, highlighted that the economists participating in this survey calculated monthly inflation of 21.9% for January (-3, 1 percentage point compared to the previous REM). For February, monthly inflation was estimated at 18% and for the year at 227%.
In the preview, presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni said the government is “very excited” about “all the work that is being done” to slow current inflation levels, although he stressed that “clearly there is still a long way to go to do “before this happens” feels some satisfaction with these numbers.
In a press conference held at the Casa Rosada, Adorni reiterated that “there is no better battle against inflation than to pulverize the fiscal deficit and put an end to the money-making machine”, while warning that the effects of “changes in monetary policies and taxes take time” to be reflected in price stability.
As anticipated by the data released Thursday by INDEC, the price index of the city of Buenos Aires – which is usually in line with the national indicator – had marked a record of 21.7% in January, just above the 21, 1% recorded in December.
With these data, in 12 months, interannual inflation in Buenos Aires reached 238.5%.
Source: Clarin
