MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina: Indec says inflation in August reached 4.2%

Minister Caputo's projections that the CPI would stand below 4% were not met

Argentina's Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the month of August went up 4.2%, the National Institute of Statistics and Census (Indec) announced Wednesday. The new figure represented a setback from July's 4% and a 236.7% interannual increase. So far in 2024, inflation reached 94.8%.

The division with the highest adjustment last month was Housing, Water, Electricity And Other Fuels (7%), given a 7% rise in home rentals and other expenses connected thereto. Second came Education (6.6%) and Transport ended up in third place (5.1%). Except in the Greater Buenos Aires area, Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages posted a 3.6% jump which was nevertheless below average. At the other end of the list were Clothing and Footwear (2.1%) and Miscellaneous goods and services (2.3%), while the Core CPI, which does not take into account increases in regulated or seasonal items, rose 4.1%, or 0.3% above July's data, which made it the highest rating in that category since April.

Over the last 12 months, the items way above par were Communications (320%), Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels (298.8%), Miscellaneous Goods and Services (293.3%), Transport (270.6%), Healthcare (244.5%), and Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages (236.9%).

Since Wednesday's report was above Economy Minister Luis Toto Caputo's forecast that the 4% barrier would be pierced downward, the Libertarian administration of President Javier Milei argued that it was nevertheless the fourth consecutive month with a steep decline.

According to financial analysts in Buenos Aires, the CPI for the first week of September stood at 0.9%, while food and beverages rose by 2.6%, which would show that, at least for the time being, the lowering of the so-called PAIS tax on purchases abroad failed in its attempt to push down retail prices in the face of the alleged supply of less expensive foreign products.

Private consultants had foreseen that inflation in August would stand at 3.9%, with a 3.5% projection for September as per the Central Bank's (BCRA) Market Expectations Outlook (REM) report.