Economic activity contracted 7.4% in October year-on-year

Argentina's economic activity contracted 7.4 percent in October compared to the same month of the previous year, accumulating a fall of 11.3 percent in the first 10 months of the year, according to official data released Wednesday.

The figures are based on the INDEC national statistics bureau's monthly estimate of economic activity. 

With respect to September, economic activity registered an increase of 1.9 percent, INDEC said.

The sectors of the economy that registered the steepest falls in October were hotels and restaurants (down 54.5 percent year-on-year) and transport and communications (down 20.3 percent).

Argentina is currently in its third consecutive year of recession, this time exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdown measures put in place to tackle the spread of the violence.

According to an estimate from the International Monetary Fund, the economy will contract by 11.8 percent this year before recovering 4.9 percent in 2021.

– TIMES/AFP