Argentina's Central Bank (BCRA) Thursday decided to raise the benchmark interest rate by 300 basis points to 78% annually, it was announced in Buenos Aires the day after the INDEC said the Consumer Price Index for the month of February ad grew 6.6% for a year-on-year inflation of 102.5 %, the highest in the last 32 years.
Consumer prices rose 3.7% in June in Argentina, official data showed on Tuesday. That brought 12-month inflation to 29.5%, up from 26.3% in the 12 months through May, the INDEC national statistics bureau announced, which makes it the highest monthly recorded figure of the last two years.
Consumer prices rose 1.4% in Argentina in August, government statistics agency Indec announced, bringing eight-month inflation to 15.4%. The central bank is targeting national inflation between 12 and 17% for 2017, well below economists' expectations of 22%.
Argentina released inflation figures for the first time since December last year, when newly elected president Mauricio Macri suspended the publication of economic data and intervened the official stats office, Indec, following long standing claims of manipulation by his predecessor.
Argentina Finance Minister Alfonso Prat Gay revealed on Wednesday that the fiscal deficit registered in 2015 was of 5.8% of GDP and 7.1% of GDP is all debts are computed, and complained that “there has been wasteful spending and when there is an expense it’s not well done.”
Argentina's July inflation for the private financial consultants climbed 1.92% and in the last twelve months reached 27.15%, according to the report released in Congress by opposition lawmakers. The so called 'congress index' is an average of the different private consultants which is released monthly by lawmakers to avoid fines and reprisals from government.
Argentina's 'official' inflation during June was 1% over the previous month according to the National Statistics and Census Institute, Indec, while prices during the current calendar year prices have reached 6.7% and 15% over the last twelve months.
Argentina's Consumer price index, CPI, during May climbed 2% reaching 28,7% in the last twelve months, according to the Congressional monthly report from opposition lawmakers, which is an average of private consultants. The data was released on Thursday with strong words against President Cristina Fernández statements in Rome that poverty in Argentina was 5%, virtually less than Denmark and Germany.
Argentina’s government released some hopeful economic statistics last week with numbers showing that the economy climbed out of recession in the last quarter. But with skepticism over the numbers, combined with a free-falling peso, in light of Argentina’s debt dispute with holdout creditors, economists still have a grim outlook the Mercosur member economy.
The International Monetary Fund (FMI) welcomed on Friday “all the specified actions,” taken by Argentine President Cristina Fernández administration, to improve Consumer prices and Gross Domestic Product indexes under INDEC National Statistics Bureau orbit.