Argentina’s rate hike: prepaid medical bills increased by 7.6%, transport by 40%, and gas bills by up to 50%

Starting this month, updates on transportation, private medical services, schools, and regulated utility rates take place.

Private forecasts suggest prices will rise by at least 20% in the first quarter.

The Government is in a tumultuous race against the clock to update the nominal level of regulated prices while inflation is increasingly higher and exceeds expectations.

As of March, a series of increases set by adjustment clauses from the Government and the Ministry of Economy will come into effect.

The official projection of 60% year-on-year inflation for December will not be met, nor is there any expectation that this can even be considered.

The forecasts of private consulting firms anticipate that prices will increase by at least 20% in the first quarter of 2023, and by the end of the year, they will have risen between 95% and up to 118%.

Projected inflation is almost double the budget target for this year, and the year-on-year figure for January (around 98.8%) is already the highest since October 1991.

ONE BY ONE, ALL THE INCREASES SCHEDULED FOR MARCH

Public transport fares were officially updated as of March 7.

The subway fare increased by 38.1% and now costs $58. A new increase to $67 is also scheduled for May, $74 from June, and $80 for the month of September.

Likewise, the pre-metro increased to $20; in September, it will reach $28.

Bus fares for the Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires (AMBA) will be in force this month according to the following updated scale depending on the distance traveled: $39 between 3 and 6 kilometers, $42 between 6 and 12 kilometers, $45 between 12 and 27 kilometers and up to $48 for long-distance trips.

Prepaid medical bills will undergo a scheduled increase of 7.66% this month, a rise calculated based on the health cost index, which includes the accounting of prices on medical supplies and salaries in the sector.

For those users who receive an increase subsidized by the Government, the increase is 5.04%.

As usual for March, private schools with some kind of government subsidy have an increase of 16.38% in the City of Buenos Aires and all the country’s Provinces.

An increase of 3.35% was scheduled for April, May, and June, respectively, in line with the questionable inflationary goals of Minister Sergio Massa.

On the other hand, the Energy Secretariat announced a general increase of 3.8% for the average price of fuels, which will take place from next week.

With this increase, the agreement between the Government, YFP, and the private energy companies comes to an end, and in the next months, the direction of prices for this sector will be totally uncertain.

Finally, utility tariffs will undergo a strong update.

About 984,000 users will lose access to economic subsidies for water bills, and residential gas rates will increase between 40% and 50% depending on the type of user and as a national average.

With information from Derecha Diario