Inflation in Argentina accelerated last month in the build up to key legislative elections, with consumer prices rising 2.3 percent.
Official data from the INDEC national statistics bureau shows that inflation has now surpassed two percent for two months running.
Over the last 12 months, prices have risen 31.3 percent, with hikes of 24.8 percent so far this year, said the statistics agency.
Most analysts had anticipated a monthly rate of above two percent for October. They expect similar increases to continue until at last the end of the year.
According to the Central Bank’s REM market expectations survey, which consults leading bodies and analysts, annual inflation in 2025 is expected to come in at 29.6 percent.
Consultancy firms had said that last month’s increases were propelled by hikes in alcoholic beverages and tobacco, transport and miscellaneous goods and services.
Experts at the EcoGo consultancy firm had predicted a higher 2.4 percent, also registering an average rise in food and beverage prices of three percent and noting that “electoral uncertainty had little impact on prices, with a relatively moderate pass-through.”
Earlier this week, City Hall statisticians reported a monthly rate of 2.2 percent for October – the same as the preceding month.
According to INDEC, transport fiercely outpaced the average consumer price index rise, soaring 3.5 percent last month. Public transport fares are also set to be hiked this month.
Housing, utilities and fuels rose 2.8 percent, with goods and services, clothing and footwear and alcoholic beverages and tobacco (all 2.4 percent) also above the average increase.
At the other end of the scale, the lowest hikes were seen in recreation and culture and household equipment and maintenance (both up 1.6 percent).
Seasonal prices rose 2.8 percent on average, with core inflation of 2.2 percent.
The hardest-hit regions, in terms of inflation, were Patagonia and Greater Buenos Aires, where prices rose 2.4 percent on average.
President Javier Milei’s government has made significant progress in reducing inflation since taking office, but the advance has come at the cost of a devaluation of the peso, massive cuts in government spending and the removal of subsidies that have made housing, healthcare and education more expensive.
In 2023, the year Milei took office, annual inflation was a staggering 211 percent, which the La Libertad Avanza government slowed to an annualised 118 percent the following year.
– TIMES
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