MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Seven out of ten Argentines disbelieve official inflation index

Seven out of ten Argentines don't believe in the official inflation index from the country's controversial statistics office and trust private estimates, according to a public opinion poll released this week in Buenos Aires.

The Ibarometro poll shows that 70.7% of the population disbelieves the monthly index from the National Statistics and Census Institute, Indec while only 10.2% accept it. According to Indec retail prices in July increased 0.4% over June accumulating 9.1% in the last twelve months and 5% in the first seven months of this year. Of the 700 interviews in the City of Buenos Aires and metropolitan area, only 8.3% accepted the 0.4% index while 57% favored the 1.8% index announced by private consulting firms. The fidelity of Indec indexes has been questioned by economists, consumer associations, displaced staff from Indec, bankers and international multilateral organizations, particularly since early 2007 when a new work methodology was inaugurated and political appointees named to head the office. Argentina's official inflation in 2007 was 8.5% and this year is expected to range between 7.5 and 8%, while the Central Bank estimates are 7 to 11%. This helps to understand why for the third month running over half the Argentine population believes the economic situation of the country is worsening. A private organization, Sociedad de Estudios Laborales, which monitors middle class inflation based on a basket of 280 products and services estimates that in the seven month period to July, retail prices soared 13.2%. Among the items which most increased for the middle class consumer in the last year are rents, 80%; eating out 50 to 58%; car insurance, 47%; taxi, 46%; gasoline and garage costs 30%; cinema, 26%; private school fees, 19 to 25%; medical insurance 20% and new car models, 17%.