The Secretary of Domestic Trade, Roberto Feletti, gave a radio interview where he spoke about how the economy is starting in 2022, confirming that the outlook will be as hard as at the end of 2021, especially due to the inflation.
According to the secretary, the increase in the cost of living will increase, this if it is considered that the inflation in January it will be close to 4%.
Undoubtedly, the increase in inflation It already has repercussions on the finances of Argentines, since, for this month, increases in food, rent, school enrollment, health, among other services are expected.
However, the greatest impact will be on food products, according to Feletti, “Inflation in January is going to be similar to that in December, but in food it is higher because you have the seasonality of fruits and vegetables.”
In this sense, with the increase in inflation there are products that are between 5% and 46% more expensive, especially carrots and perita tomatoes.
For this reason, the Government seeks to expand its Care Prices program, in order to minimize the impact on the rates for consumers, as everything went through the roof.
How the IMF agreement affects inflation
Although the inflation will remain close to 4% for the month that has just ended and raises the cost of living for Argentines, the Secretary of Commerce foresees that the impact will be minimized after the agreement with the IMF.
This if it is considered that “The more reserves there are in dollars in the Central Bank, the more possibility there is of carrying out the economic stabilization plan”Feletti said.
Therefore, although the government’s plan is ambitious and the negotiation caused great political discomfort, as President Alberto Fernández himself said, Argentina had no other way.
In this sense, and even though the fine print of the agreement is yet to be known, it is expected that through this the country’s finances will be stabilized, not only to have an economic rebound, but also to generate employment and improve the quality of life of the Argentines.