MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Tierra del Fuego's May inflation almost three times the official 1% rate

Tierra del Fuego is ruled by Governor Fabiana Ríos a close ally of President Cristina Fernandez.

Tierra del Fuego's Consumer Prices Index, CPI for May was almost three times higher than the Argentine government official index from stats office Indec: 2.7% against 1%. The percentage was provided by Tierra del Fuego's Stats and Census Office, which also shows that in the first five months of the year inflation reached 11.4% and 28% in the last twelve months, well above the 15.3% from Indec.

Inflation in the five months of 2015 in Tierra del Fuego was: January, 2.8%; February, 1.5%; March, 1.7%; 2.3% in April and 2.7% in May.

Transport and Communications was the item that experienced the largest hike in May, 6.7%. This was followed by Healthcare 4.3%; Goods and Services, 3.5%; Food and Beverage, 2.9%; House equipment and maintenance, 2.3%; Leisure, 1.9%; Clothing and footwear, 0.6%; Education and Housing, 0.3%; and public utilities (water and power) 0.1%.

In the first five months of the year, Transport and communications again peaked with 16.4%; Goods and Services, 15%; Healthcare, 13.2%; Education, 13.1%; Leisure, 11.9%; Home equipment and maintenance, 11.2%; Clothing and Footwear, 9.3%; Housing, water and power, 7.3%.

Food and Beverage in the five months, 7.6%. In May, vegetables prices climbed 8.7%, followed by meats (beef, chicken, lamb) 2.7%; Bread and bakery, 1.8%; Fish, 1.8%; Cooking oil, 1.5%; Dairy and poultry, 0.6%, while Fresh fruit was down 2.1%.

Regarding indigence, the Basic Food Basket for a single adult was 1.433 Pesos (approx 160 dollars) and for a family with two children, 4.429 Pesos (approx 495 dollars).

On the other hand the Total Basic Basket which measures the poverty line stood at 5.255 Pesos (approx 585 dollars) while for a couple with two children, 16.237 Pesos (approx 1.800 dollars). In both cases the increase in May was 1.8% and 27.9% in the last twelve months.