Data has been released by Alberto Fernández’s government, which is using the price freeze as a strategy to combat the situation
Playback/Twitter @CasaRosada
With an increase of 94.8% in 2022, the inflation registered in Argentina was the largest in the country for 32 years. According to data released this Thursday, the 12th, by the National Institute of Statistics. The numbers came after December results, which closed at a high of 5.1%, below the 7.4% peak recorded in July but slightly above November, when the rise was 4.9%. The CPI rate, the consumer price index, is the highest since 1991, when the increase was over 1000% per year. This time, apparel and footwear, up 120.8%, and restaurants and hotels, up 108.8%, were the sectors that triggered the top the most. The strategy intended by the President Alberto Fernandez In order to curb the increase, prices must be frozen. The federal government announced an agreement with food and hygiene companies in December to maintain the figures for 2,000 essential products until March this year. There are also monthly increases of a maximum of 4% for a further 30,000 articles. Inflation is one of Casa Rosada’s main concerns. Despite a more than 7% drop in the unemployment rate, the loss of purchasing power pushed thousands of people into the poverty line, which already affects 36% of the population. Argentina, the region’s third largest economy, doesn’t know what it’s like to have inflation below double digits since 2011, still under Cristina Kirchner’s government. With the presidential election scheduled for October 2023, Fernández’s team is trying to improve numbers and deliver results, including Economy Minister Sergio Massa, who has already promised monthly rates around 3% for 2023 without letting finances cool.
*With information from reporter Fabrizio Neitzke