Argentine monthly inflation rate hits 12.4% in August, a 32-year high

Argentina’s monthly inflation rate was 12.4% in August, according to the National Institute for Statistics and Census (INDEC).

The figure is almost double that of July and represents the highest monthly rate since February 1991, when the country was mired in a hyperinflation crisis.

Food and beverages had the greatest impact on the index - with the cost of meats, derivatives, vegetables, and legumes increasing by 15.6%.

INDEC’s price report, the first since the nationwide primary (PASO) elections on August 13, is the first to reflect the 22% devaluation that raised the official exchange rate for the U.S. dollar from 300 to 366 pesos.

The parallel, "blue" rate jumped within days from 605 pesos before the primaries to 720, as worried Argentines rushed to buy dollars; exchange rates have since stabilized however.

Year-over-year inflation hit 124.4% - the highest since August 1991 - and for the first eight months of 2023 reached 80.2%.

Median wages as of June had risen 108.7% annually - but among unregistered workers (around a third of the total), only 82.4%.

Economy Minister Sergio Massa, who's running for president on the ruling, center-left Union for the Homeland ticket, enacted a 36% raise in pensions for September in response - among other measures including wide-reaching tax cuts.

At: https://buenosairesherald.com/economics/monthly-inflation-rate-hits-12-4-a-32-year-high

Argentine Economy Minister Sergio Massa announces a stimulus package in response to inflation numbers for August - the highest for the country in 32 years.

Massa, who's running for president on the ruling, center-left Union for the Homeland ticket, enacted a 36% raise in pensions and a 152% jump in income tax standard deductions among other measures.

The pragmatic Massa faces a stiff challenge from far-right candidate Javier Milei - who has tapped into popular discontent by pledging to "dynamite" the central bank and other institutions.