Inflation in Argentina up almost 79% in August, virtually guaranteeing another interest rate hike

09/21/2022 / By Belle Carter

The annual inflation in Argentina went up 78.5 percent in August, virtually guaranteeing another interest rate hike by the country’s central bank.

Business news outlet Bloomberg said the surge was faster than the 78.2 percent median estimate from analysts and marked a new three-decade high, according to government data. Consumer prices soared seven percent from one month earlier.

The National Institute of Statistics and Census, also known as Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INDEC), confirmed that the nation’s inflation rate is among the highest in the world.

Compared to last year, clothing prices and food costs have increased by 109 percent and 80 percent, respectively. Bloomberg economists have noted that because the Argentine government raised regulated utility prices in September, there will surely be a knock-on effect in several sectors.

“Monetary tightening won’t suffice to cool price gains in the near term. Energy subsidy cuts and pass-through from faster peso depreciation will push inflation near 90 percent by year-end,” said Bloomberg‘s Latin America business analyst Adriana Dupita.

With this, the South American country’s central bank officials are expected to raise borrowing costs this week. The monetary authority has started hiking more aggressively since Economy Minister Sergio Massa took over in August.

“Keeping rates above inflation is also a key pillar of Argentina’s $44 billion program with the International Monetary Fund [IMF]. The benchmark rate currently stands at 69.5 percent,” Bloomberg reported.

Massa recently met with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva in Washington, committing to implement the program. According to Georgieva, Massa “expressed his clear intention” to improve the economy “under the principles of fiscal order and the strengthening of reserves.”

However, local finance experts are not fully convinced as they foresee the annual inflation reaching 100 percent between the end of this year and early 2023.

America is slowly drowning in the inflation whirlpool

Meanwhile, critics are saying that the U.S. could face the same predicament with Joe Biden at the helm.

Last week, a Fox anchorman interrupted the president’s live celebratory speech on the passing of his IRA. Neil Cavuto went into live streaming in the middle of the White House broadcast to point out that the stock market is “tanking” and that inflation has skyrocketed to 8.3 percent from last year.

“Alright, I do not want to be a party-crasher, but we interrupt this celebration for a hard, cold dose of reality,” Cavuto said. “Stocks are tanking because inflation is accelerating – the very inflation that the president says ‘he’s made great progress addressing,’ heralding his Inflation Reduction Act as the boom for the economy that we did not see in a key number out earlier today.” (Related: Inflation rises after Joe Biden signs ‘inflation reduction act’ and prepares White House celebration.)

While Biden was relishing the passage of the IRA, a graphic in the corner of the screen was showing the sad reality about the state of U.S. economy.

“There is this unfortunate split screen right now with the Dow taking a total beating. It feels like it is hard to be celebratory for some people,” CNN pointed out.

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