Argentina records 102.5 % year-on-year inflation in February, the highest since 1991

Argentina recorded 102.5 percent year-on-year inflation in February after reporting a monthly price increase of 6.6 percent, the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INDEC) said yesterday, Tuesday.

The price increase for the last 12 months exceeded 100 percent for the first time in the previous 32 years since September 1991.

The item most affected by monthly inflation was food, with a substantial increase of 9.8 percent, followed by communication with 7.8 percent, and hotels and restaurants with 7.5 percent, INDEC detailed.

In the inter-annual variation, the sectors with the highest increases were clothing and footwear, 121.7 percent, and hotels and restaurants, 116.4 percent. In comparison, food showed increases of 102.6 percent compared to February 2022.

On the other hand, activities associated with recreation and culture increased by 98.8 percent; health, 95.4 percent; housing and essential services, 95.2 percent; transportation, 91.8 percent and communication, 79.2 percent, the entity noted.

With the data reported in February, Argentina accumulated in the first two months of 2023 a variation of domestic prices of 13.1 percent.

Argentina’s government aims for a 60 percent inflation target for 2023, with a 30 percent price variation estimated for the year’s first half.

Argentina’s Minister of Labor, Employment, and Social Security, Raquel “Kelly” Kismer de Olmos, stated last February that the government maintains the 30 percent inflation target for the first six months.

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