The Precios Cuidados price-control programme is making a comeback, 33 months after the Mauricio Macri administration declared it would drop it entirely.
The government on Friday published a list of 550 basic grocery items whose prices it will freeze in order to offer stability to consumers amid soaring inflation, the currency devaluation and broader economic uncertainty, adding an additional 127 items amid what are considered the most basic food and hygiene items for a typical family in Argentina.
"We have expanded and strengthened the Precios Cuidados programme, working with industries and different supermarket chambers. We have paid special attention to basic food items, ensuring that core items are represented with accesible prices", the Production and Labour Minister Dante Sica said.
The list includes rice, pasta, cookies, oil, powdered milk, tea, coffee, sausages, frozen meat, drinks, soap, and more. Among the new items are flour products, chicken products, powdered cocoa and jam, among others.
The programme's return comes as the September monthly inflation rate is expected to reach a record six percent in the wake of the most recent hit to the economy: last week's sharp slump in the value of the national currency.
"Precios Cuidados will not be necessary because we are going to lower inflation," President Macri declared during his 2015 presidential election campaign.
-TIMES
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