MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentine official inflation 0.8% and 6.6% in eight months despite price agreements

The Indec stats are not considered reliable and have been seriously questioned by IMF

Argentina's Consumer Price Index (IPC) was of 0.8% in August, according to the INDEC statistics bureau, totalling 6.6% this year. Price hikes were mainly seen in food and beverage, household equipment and maintenance sectors. Meanwhile, entertainment costs went down in August.

However these figures contrast dramatically with the so called Congress index, an average of private consultants estimate, (threatened with fines and court if they make them public), which indicates that in August inflation was 2.11% and 25.2% in the last twelve months.

For Indec food and beverage was up 1.3% in August despite the prices agreement with supermarkets. Likewise household equipment and maintenance was up 1.5%, while clothing and other goods and services climbed 0.8%.

The only item which was down, 0.7% was entertainment costs. Housing and basic services as well as healthcare and medical attention were up 0.4%. Transport and Communications and Education climbed 0.6% in August according to Indec.

The overall August index of 0.8% was made up of a 0.74% increase in goods and 0.1% in services.

Wholesale prices were up 1.1% in August, made up of 1.7% in the price of primary goods and 0.9% in manufactured goods and electricity.

Meanwhile the so called Total Basic Basket which defines the poverty level, in August reached 1.708 Argentine Pesos for a family of four and was up 0.51% compared to July. This means that for Indec a person is no longer poor if he manages to make 13.7 Pesos a day, which according to the official exchange rate is above two dollars but in the black market is below 1.50 dollars.

The Basic Food Basket, which defines indigence, reached 749 Pesos, or 1.12% higher than in July, since food prices were the most dynamic. This means that for Indec in Argentina a person can feed of 6.04 Pesos which is a dollar ten cents at the official exchange rate and 70 US cents in the open market.

Finally in the first eight months of the year the Total Basic Basket climbed 5.9% while the Basic Food Basket in the same period jumped 4.2%.

The congressional index is considered more reliable by unions (labour contracts); courts and multilateral organizations such as the IMF and World Bank that have questioned Argentine Indec stats on inflation and GDP

Indec was recognized as a serious, independent and professional office but has been in the eye of the storm since 2007 when its professionals were replaced by political cronies of the Kirchner couple.