MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Paraguay's inflation reaches 0.4% in June

The guaraní is slowly losing ground to the US dollar

Paraguay's inflation in June stood at 0.4%, according to a Central Bank report issued Friday in Asunción. The new data showed a slight improvement, compared to May's 0.6%, for a total of 1.5% in the first half of the year 2021.

The Central Bank explained the increase in prices was tied to a rise in the price of fuel and other goods, offset by decreases in food.

With the new data, yoy inflation climbed to 4.5%, much higher than the 3.7% reported in May.

Throughout June, the price of beef went up 6.6%, followed by oils, 4.6%, and fuels, 4.5%.

According to the Central Bank, the rise in the price of gasoline and diesel fuel was due to “increases in oil prices at international level.”

Regarding the price of beef, exports played a key role in the upward trend through pressure from international markets as well as by a slow but steady depreciation of the guaraní against the US dollar since the end of May.

On the other hand, fresh vegetables and tubers fell by 6.4%, a decrease that was also accompanied by fresh fruits (-2.9%) and pork (-1.4%), due to a lower foreign demand.