2024-04-14 13:29:17
Inflation in Argentina soared to a new record high of 288% in March, according to data released. On a monthly basis, the consumer price index (CPI) in March jumped 11% from the previous month, after rising 13.2% in February.
The CPI rose 51.6% in the first quarter, the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses wrote in X. Inflation was 276.2% in February, up from 254.2% in January – the highest in more than three decades.
Argentina’s central bank on Thursday cut interest rates to 70% from 80% – the third rate cut since President Javier Millay took office in December.
The “treatment” of shock
In the months since the Miley government’s “shock therapy” was launched to avoid the tenth bankruptcy in the country’s modern history and significantly reduce budget deficits, food prices have risen by as much as 50% to 100%.
Many households were forced to replace beef with chicken to make it through the month, others stopped going out to eat or started collecting more coupons from newspapers and other sources. Supermarkets do not have time to change the prices on the shelves and smaller businesses are worried about their turnover.
The poverty rate has now reached 57% from 45% last year and the hryvnia especially against the dollar is very low (at 840 pesos to the US dollar) after Miley announced a 54% devaluation of the peso in December.
The reactions from unions are growing and now the country is heading towards a crossroads where it will be seen if the government will continue to have support to proceed with new reforms such as large privatizations that have been announced. Argentina has defaulted nine times, most recently in 2020 before a major debt restructuring. In addition to popular reactions, Miley’s policies also face obstacles in the country’s Congress.
Source: ot.gr
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