Chile records first price drop in more than two years

Chile recorded a slight reduction in inflation in February, with a negative value of 0.1%, marking the first decline in consumer prices in more than two years, the National Statistics Institute (INE) reported Wednesday.

INE’s Consumer Price Index registered a monthly decline in February of this year for the first time in 27 months, in a context of inflation and an economic crisis that is hitting the world.

With the result of the second month of the year, inflation in Chile accumulated 0.7% so far this year and 11.9% in 12 months up to February, after advancing 0.8% in January 2023.

February data showed a monthly decrease in transportation prices (2.7%), with a significant drop in air transportation (27.9%).

Food and non-alcoholic beverage prices also showed a decrease (0.3%), with the most considerable declines in fruits (5.7%) and meats (1.3%).

Clothing and footwear, in turn, rose 3.9%, with increases in women’s sneakers, uniforms, and school sportswear, in the context of the start of this month’s student year.

The Chilean government projected that inflation would have a significant downward trend to close the year between 4% and 5%.

The Central Bank of Chile expects this “significant” reduction to occur in the second quarter of 2023.

In 2022, the South American country closed with a cumulative price increase of 12.8% amid an economic crisis that sent inflation to its highest level in three decades.

With information from Xinhua