MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina moves to control prices of a basket of 300 basic products

Commerce Secretary Guillermo Moreno, is responsible for the government’s price control system

Argentina's federal government has ordered supermarkets to offer a basket of 300 basic products at low prices amid a backdrop of what many economists say is one of the highest rates of inflation in the Americas.

The government will publish the list of goods--which includes food, beverages and cleaning products--online with a Google Maps feature that will allow consumers to locate the nearest participating supermarket, according to a statement on the government's press website.

The measure follows a meeting Friday between the executives of Argentina's biggest supermarket chains and Commerce Secretary Guillermo Moreno, the statement said.

Mr. Moreno is in charge of the government's price-control system.

Inflation is widely believed to be firmly entrenched above 20% due to lax fiscal and monetary policy. Not even the abrupt slowdown in the economy this year has cooled galloping consumer prices.

The government's consumer-price index put 12-month inflation at 10% in August, while a survey of a dozen economists published by opposition members of Congress produced an average estimate of 24.3% annual inflation that month.

The government's latest forecast puts economic growth at 3.4% this year, down from 8.9% in 2011.

Argentina's official economic statistics have been the target of considerable criticism following a purge of the national statistics agency in early 2007. The administration of President Cristina Fernandez is thought to significantly understate inflation and overstate growth.

Earlier in September, the IMF gave Argentina until mid-December to improve the quality of the inflation and GDP data it reports to the fund or face possible sanctions.