Argentina's economy shrank by 0.9% in October, says INDEC

Argentina's economy shrank by an estimated 0.9 percent in October year-on-year, according to data from the INDEC national statistics bureau.

The agency's Monthly Economic Activity Estimator (EMAE) showed a contraction of almost one percent in the tenth month of the year, confirming 2.3-percent shrinkage for Argentina's economy in 2019 up until the end of October.

INDEC's EMAE index has now registered 17 consecutive months of decline, Noticias Argentinas reported.

Taking into account a recession that has lasted since the second quarter of 2018, the IMF and the World Bank both estimate that Argentina's GDP will fall by 3.1 percent overall in 2019. Experts consulted by the Central Bank believe the figure will be a three-percent decline.

The sector registering the best performance in October was agriculture, livestock, hunting and forestry (up three percent), while strong negative variations were seen in fishing (down 28.2 percent), Financial Intermediation (down nine percent), construction (down 8.3 percent) and manufacturing industry ( own 2.2 percent).

Argentina will likely end 2019 with an inflation rate over 54 percent. According to most consultancy firms, prices are expected to increase by more than 40 percent next year.

– TIMES/AFP