Inflation in Argentina accelerated last month in the build-up to key legislative elections, with consumer prices rising 2.3 percent.
Figures published on Wednesday by the INDEC national statistics bureau show prices rose faster than in September, when inflation hit 2.1 percent. It was the second consecutive month that consumer prices exceeded the two percent mark, pushing the annual rate to 31.3 percent.
Cumulative inflation for the first 10 months of the year reached 24.8 percent – the lowest for that period since 2017.
In a post on social media, Economy Minister Luis Caputo noted that, year-on-year, Argentina’s consumer price index had now recorded “18 consecutive months of deceleration.”
Most analysts had anticipated a monthly rate above two percent for October, a month marked by a run on the currency ahead of the October 26 midterms. Experts expect similar increases to continue until the end of the year.
According to the Central Bank’s REM market expectations survey, which consults leading institutions and analysts, annual inflation in 2025 is projected to reach 29.6 percent.
Consultancy firms said last month’s increases were driven by hikes in alcoholic beverages and tobacco, transport, and miscellaneous goods and services.
Experts at the EcoGo consultancy had predicted a higher 2.4 percent, also noting an average rise in food and beverage prices of three percent and stating 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 sharply outpaced the average consumer price index rise, soaring 3.5 percent last month. Public transport fares are also set to increase this month.
Housing, utilities and fuels rose 2.8 percent, while goods and services, clothing and footwear, and alcoholic beverages and tobacco (all up 2.4 percent) also exceeded the average increase.
At the other end of the scale, the lowest rises 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 at 2.2 percent.
The hardest-hit regions, in terms of inflation, were Patagonia and Greater Buenos Aires, where prices rose by an average of 2.4 percent.
President Javier Milei’s government has made significant progress in reducing inflation since taking office, but that achievement has come at the cost of a peso devaluation, deep spending cuts and the removal of subsidies that have made housing, healthcare and education more expensive.
In 2023, the year Milei took office, annual inflation reached a staggering 211 percent, which the La Libertad Avanza government brought down to an annualised 118 percent the following year.
– TIMES/NA/AFP
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