Inflation flies in Argentina. According to official figures, the annual price increase has exceeded the three-digit mark for the first time since 1990. In February, the CPI increased by 6.6% compared to January and by 102.5% compared to February 2022. The data that raises the most alarm is the rise in food, which increased by 9.8%. The news comes as a blow to the Peronist government of Alberto Fernández and his economy minister, Sergio Massa, just seven months before the presidential elections.
The sharp rise in food prices was led by meat and dairy products, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INDEC). Government agreements to reduce the value of these products have failed and there are concerns about the impact of the increases on the less resourced population. In Argentina, as of mid-2022, almost one in ten people lived in poverty, meaning they did not have enough income to buy the basic food basket. Inflationary escalation suggests these data will continue to deteriorate this year, as will poverty, which was 36.5%.
Completing the podium are the communications industries, up 7.8%, and restaurants and hotels, which increased their prices by 7.5%.
Social movements have taken to the streets of Buenos Aires to protest the economic situation. “The debt is on us,” read some banners held by protesters who camped outside the Ministry for Social Development to demand more aid and protest cuts.
Many participants in this protest make a living from public employment schemes, which they supplement with other government subsidies and small odd jobs. “Working is not enough, everything is very expensive,” laments Jennifer Paso, who is protesting on the street with two young children on a scorching morning, the fifteenth straight day of a heatwave in the Argentine capital. Next to him, two other mothers nod and denounce that their pockets are emptying faster and faster.
In Latin America, only Venezuela outperforms Argentina in terms of inflation. The local population is used to prices increasing every month, but the young people had never experienced that some products became more expensive from one week to the next or increased as much as they are now. At less crowded times, it’s possible to find vendors with labellers changing their prices at full speed; Also receive calls to report the increase in value of an ordered item a few days in advance.
election agenda
Peronism must tame inflation to stand a chance in this year’s election. When he took office as economy minister last August, Massa implemented measures that prompted a tentative downward trend in the second half of 2022, but prices spiraled out of control again in January. March will bring no relief either: it is usually one of the most complicated months for inflation rates due to the increases that come with the start of the school year and 2023 is likely to be no exception.
Inflation has been the executioner of Argentine governments, who came to power with promises to stop it. Together for Change candidate Horacio Rodríguez Larreta is not afraid to stumble over the same stone as others before him. “I guarantee it, I will bring inflation down,” the current mayor of Buenos Aires said hours before the release of the devastating official index.
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