The cumulative balance in February was 6.6%, taking the inflation index above the symbolic 100% mark for the first time since September 1991
Luis ROBAYO / AFP
inflation on Argentina reached the highest level since September 1991 when the neighboring country emerged from hyperinflation and recorded a 102.5% increase over a 12month period. Driven by the increase in wages and tariffs for public services, the month of February saw the index of inflation consumer price index (CPI) rise by 6.6% and by 13.1% in the first two months. In the same period of the previous year, i.e. after the end of February 2022, the annual increase in inflation was 52.3%. Last month, the country’s economy minister, Sergio Massa, extended the agreement signed between the federal government and supermarkets and companies involved in food, hygiene, dressing rooms, telephony and education to deindex the economy. Irene Devita, a 74yearold retiree, said it’s impossible to save money when inflation is rampant. “There is nothing left, there is no money, people have nothing. I arrived the other day and asked for three tangerines, two oranges, two bananas and half a kilo of tomatoes. When he told me it was 650 pesos, I told him to take everything out and just leave the tomatoes because I don’t have enough money,” he said. With an inflation index above 100%, prices in Argentina tend to change almost weekly.
*Contains information from the Portal agency