FILE PHOTO: A customer holds a shop list at a greengrocery store in a street market, in Buenos Aires, Argentina June 15, 2021. REUTERS/Agustin Marcarian
March 15, 2022
By Hernan Nessi and Jorge Iorio
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) -Argentina’s monthly inflation reading on Tuesday rocketed to 4.7% in February, the highest since March 2021 and far above forecasts, and the South American country’s president promised a “war” against spiraling prices.
Annual inflation was already running at over 50% in the grains-producing country when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine super-charged global commodities costs.
Argentina has limited some exports and frozen prices. Center-left President Alberto Fernandez pledged to roll out a major package of anti-inflation measures later this week.
“I promise another fight… the war against inflation in Argentina,” he said.
The monthly jump was well above an estimated 4% monthly rise projected by analysts polled by Reuters. Prices jumped 8.8% year-to-date and 12-month rolling inflation hit 52.3%.
The Economy Ministry said in a statement that the war in Ukraine boosted commodities prices while a drought in Argentina hit grain production.
“The Russian-Ukrainian war is present in Argentina and that is seen in the prices paid for everything associated with commodities, which are increasing,” Economy Minister Martin Guzman had said on Monday.
Argentina, the world’s No. 1 processed soy exporter and No. 2 for corn, has benefited from high grains prices on its exports, though it has struggled to tamp down domestic prices.
“The rise in the price of commodities worldwide adds more fuel to the fire,” said Isaías Marini, an economist at consulting firm Econviews. “The figure for March will probably be even higher than that for February.”
The government has imposed caps on some grains exports and price freeze agreements on some foods. This week it halted new overseas sales of soy oil and meal, its top exports.
Horacio Larghi, economist at consultancy Invenómica said rising prices of food inputs would start to feed through to consumers.
“In March the situation has become very complicated with strong increases in flour and oils prices, which will undoubtedly soon be transferred to the prices of final goods,” he said.
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Battling inflation in Argentina https://tmsnrt.rs/36BZUr1
Battling inflation in Argentina (Interactive graphic) https://tmsnrt.rs/3rg3GQn
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(Reporting by Hernan Nessi; Editing by Adam Jourdan, Andrea Ricci and David Gregorio)
