Inflation in June increased 3.7 percent, the INDEC national statistics bureau announced today, the highest monthly recorded figure of the last two years.
June's figure – which was led by increases in transport (5.9 percent), food and non-alcoholic beverages (5.2 percent) and healthcare (4.3 percent) – means that prices have risen 16 percent in the first half of the year alone, with annual inflation over the last 12 months reaching 29.5 percent, one of the world's highest registered rates.
Consumer prices had reached 2.1 percent in the previous month, and 26.3 percent in the 12 months through May.
Last December, the government set a 15-percent target for the whole of 2018, though officials were forced to lower expectations following the impact of the peso’s fierce devaluation in the second quarter, which saw it drop by 30 percent. That prompted the government to seek a US$50-billion financing deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
INDEC's latest data means the government's original target has now been surpassed in the first six months of the year alone.
Private consultancy firms have predicted that annual inflation will come in at around 30 percent and forecast lower rates of growth.
Core inflation last month stood at 4.1 percent, also the highest recorded since 2016.
- TIMES/AP/AFP/NA
Comments