2023-05-12 23:54:20
After the inflation figure released today by INDEC –8.4% in April and a cumulative 108.8% in the last year–, the highest since April 2002, the Minister of Economy Sergio Massa and good part of the cabinet of officials of the Palacio de Hacienda, prepare a series of measures to try to contain the rise in prices.
The package of announcements would be made with a series of measures that will be communicated throughout the weekend. There is no more information about it, but Massa and his “small table” met today after the act of the last welding of the Néstor Kirchner Gas Pipeline, where he participated in a videoconference in which President Alberto Fernández also spoke.
In this context, there were versions that both were meeting this afternoon in Olivos. The version was categorically denied from the environment of the Tigrense. On the fifth floor of Economy, the minister met; his vice, Gabriel Rubinstein; his chief of staff, Leonardo Madcur; and the second vice president of the BCRA, Lisandro Cleri, among other officials. That team defines a series of measures that will be announced between Saturday and Sunday.
The one who gave an early clue was José Ignacio de Mendiguren, Secretary of Industry. “Every day we are fighting hard and it costs us a lot, we admit it. But we do not stand still. This is the challenge. On Saturday, before the figure, Sergio Massa is not going to stay still. It is not that we fatally accept this figure. We are not still. We are taking care of the real Argentina every day,” said the “Basque” this noon in a radio interview.
April’s figure
As stated, the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses today released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for April. The result was 8.4% last month (the highest since April 2002) and 108.8% in the last year. In the first quarter, it accumulated a rise of 32%.
A series of items exceeded the average for last month: clothing 10.8%, food 10.1%, restaurants 9.9% and home equipment and maintenance 8.6%.
In the last year, the average of 108.8% was surpassed by restaurants with 126%, clothing with 120%, food and non-alcoholic beverages 115%, alcoholic beverages 114% and household equipment 111%.
Sergio Massa, Flavia Royon and Alberto Fernández, on the screen, in this afternoon’s videoconference through the Néstor Kirchner Gas Pipeline
In this regard, from the Secretary of Economic Policy commanded by Rubinstein, they assured that “April once again presented extremely high inflation data” and spoke of the impact of “exchange rate unease.”
The statement highlighted: “April once again presented extremely high inflation data. As particular aspects, it is worth mentioning increases in seasonal goods, such as vegetables (20.5%) and clothing (10.8%), both components that had already driven prices in the previous month. Although some components of the Core CPI showed a significant slowdown compared to the high levels of March, such as beef (2.7%), other components maintained accelerated dynamics, such as meat (26.4%), dairy ( 11.1%), sugar (10.6%) and bread and cereals (8.5%). We also noticed that the exchange rate unease in the financial dollar markets, in the last part of the month, prompted preventive price increases in many products and services in our economy. This will require redoubling efforts from the macroeconomy, in order to specify policies that allow improving fiscal accounts, the accumulation of reserves and exchange rate stability, as well as strengthening the income policy, all in order to achieve better results in the fight against inflation”.
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