© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A customer walks past a greengrocer as Argentina’s annual inflation rate topped 100% in February, the country’s statistics agency said on Tuesday, the first time it has hit triple figures since a period of hyperinflation in 1991, ov
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By Horacio Soria and Juan Carlos Bustamante
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Argentina’s annual inflation rate soared to 104.3% in March, the official statistics agency said on Friday, one of the highest rates in the world, straining people’s pockets and fueling a cost-of-living crisis that has pushed poverty up.
The inflation reading for the month was 7.7%, well above analyst forecasts of 7.1%, marking the fastest monthly increase since 2002 and increasing pressure on the government, which is facing to angry voters ahead of the October election.
“I try to think that one day we will be better. But the inflation we are experiencing today in Argentina is terrible. It feels like never before,” said Claudia Hernansaez, an employee of the publishing house.
“In my case, I have zero saving capacity.”
Sky-high prices have hit wages and purchasing power, pushed poverty to close to 40% and dented the popularity of the ruling Peronist coalition as general elections approach.
The country, a major global exporter of grains, is also grappling with one of the worst droughts in its history, which has affected soybean, corn and wheat crops, wiping billions out of the economy in lost exports and raising prices. internal prices.
“The figure we see today represents the worst moment of the impact of the war on international prices and the worst drought in the history of our country,” the presidential spokeswoman, Gabriela Cerruti, wrote on Twitter.
“We know, it hurts us, it occupies us, how this affects daily life and that of each family,” he added, saying that the government expects a downward trend in inflation to “be reflected soon.”
EACH MOST EXPENSIVE STORE
For now, every trip to the supermarket is a reminder of the country’s inflation crisis, the worst since 1991, which was the end of a period of hyperinflation. Retiree Juan Tartara said prices went up with each weekly visit to the store.
“Sometimes the food goes up 10% or 15%,” he said. “In one year, meat went from around 1,000 pesos ($4.66) or 1,200 pesos to 2,800 pesos.”
Inflation will likely be one of the decisive issues for voters in the October elections, where libertarian economist Javier Milei has been gaining ground in the polls with his promises to break the status quo.
President Alberto Fernández’s approval rating has fallen as inflation soars, and is currently hovering around 20%. He has not yet confirmed whether he will seek re-election for a second term.
Paola Lavezzari, also in publications, said that inflation was forcing her to tighten the bag strings and buy cheaper products.
“The first thing you lose is the quality of the product. Because what you used to consume of better quality, today is unaffordable, ”he said.
“Things were always maybe 10 pesos more, but now it’s 100 pesos more… When you do the monthly shopping trip, it’s a lot. The difference is huge.”
($1 = 214.6700 Argentine pesos)