The National Institute of Statistics and Censuses of Argentina (Indec), reported this Wednesday March inflation was 6.7%. After several days of speculation and cross declarations about the figure that it would reach, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) last month rose to the highest record during the administration of President Alberto Fernández.
Thus, inflation reaches an accumulated variation of 16.1% only in the first three months of the year.
With the data for March, year-on-year inflation stood at 55.1%, reaching almost half of the goal of 33% set by the government for the whole year only in the first quarter. That goal was included in the 2022 Budget bill, which ultimately failed to pass Congress in December.
The sharp rise in inflation last month is the result of increases in food and non-alcoholic beverages, education, clothing and transportation. Thus, it continued the jump of 4.7% registered in February, a figure that exceeded by several tenths the previous estimates of the analysts.
The highest inflation so far in the current administration (and the highest monthly record in 20 years), was known after the Minister of Economy, Martín Guzmán, confirmed on Monday night that March inflation would be above 6%, surpassing even the projections of the main economic analysts.
The expected high inflation in March generated a clash of opinions between Guzmán and the Secretary of Domestic Trade, Roberto Feletti, and even the Governor of Buenos Aires, Axel Kicillof, got into the fight.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Buenos Aires president, accompanied by Feletti, announced an extensive food reduction program, as a complement to the price control measures implemented by the national government.
Source: The Chronicler
