Producer Prices in Argentina

Argentina - Producer Prices

Inflation rises in April

According to the National Statistics Institute (INDEC), national consumer prices rose 2.7% over the previous month in April, coming in above March’s 2.3% month-on-month increase. The result reflected higher prices in all 12 components of the index. In month-on-month terms, prices for households; water, electricity, gas and other fuels rose 8.0%; prices for transportation rose 4.0%; and prices for clothing and footwear rose 4.0%. The increase in these subcomponents reflected cuts in government subsidies. The annual variation in consumer prices reached 25.5% in April, slightly above March’s 25.4% increase.

Panelists surveyed for this month’s LatinFocus report expect national inflation to be 22.7% at the end of 2018, which is up 3.4 percentage points from last month’s forecast. Inflation is projected to reach 15.7% at the end of 2019. The current LatinFocus projections vastly exceed the Central Bank’s target of inflation for the end of 2018 (15.0%) and for the end of 2019 (10.0%).

Data compiled by the Statistical Institute of the city of Buenos Aires showed that consumer prices in the city of Buenos Aires rose from a 2.1% month-on-month increase in March to a 3.0% rise in April. Inflation jumped from 25.4% in March to 26.5% in April.

The inflation data released by the Statistical Institute of the city of Buenos Aires and INDEC are not comparable, as the two index structures are not homologous. This is due to different baskets of goods, samples and data collection methodologies.

Panelists surveyed for this month’s LatinFocus report expect inflation in the city of Buenos Aires to be 19.7% at the end of 2018, which is up 0.6 percentage points from last month’s estimate. Panelists estimate that inflation will end 2019 at 13.6%.