São Paulo, SP (Folhapress) – Argentina’s monthly inflation rate fell to 2.2% in January, the lowest since July 2020, after President Javier Milei took office just over a year ago, introducing measures of austerity that helped stabilize the combalid economy.
The increase in the Argentine consumer price index was slightly below the 2.3% analyst predictions, and below December 2.7%, a victory for Milei, which seeks to maintain the positive impetus of the economy amidst the midst of Negotiations of a new agreement with the International Monetary Fund.
Inflation decreased to 84.5% in the accumulated 12 months, said the National Institute of Statistics (INDEC) on Thursday (13). This is the first data less than 100% since January 2023, when it was 98.8%, according to data from INDEC.
“O [índice de preços ao consumidor] National IPC recorded a 2.2% variation in January, confirming the continuity of the misinflation process. Thus, monthly inflation has been the smallest since July 2020, ”said the Ministry of Economy in a press release.
The high price was pulled by the 5.3%restaurant and hotel industry, in the middle of the Argentines vacation season, while at the opposite end, the apparel and footwear sector appeared, which recorded a drop of 0.7 %.
Argentina, a large grain exporter and rising energy producer, has been fighting three -digit inflation in recent years. Monthly inflation, which has reached a peak of about 25%, has been between 2% and 3% since October.
The low inflation bias has remained in the last 13 months -with a slight repique in August and December -, under the term of President Javier Milei, who implemented a fiscal adjustment and a cut of public spending that, according to the Argentine analysis institute Tax (Iaraf), was 4.7% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Inflation reduction is critical to the Milei government, which wishes to eliminate capital controls that undermine business and investments. It wants inflation to remain below 2% to allow the end of controls, although analysts remain cautious as to the date it may occur.
With its economic policy, the government has achieved the first annual fiscal surplus since 2010, but, on the other hand, a recession was consolidated and in the first semester there was a leap of 11 percentage points in poverty, which affected 52.9% of the population. There is evidence that the index has decreased in the second half.
