For example, according to the report carried out by the Free Consumers group in supermarkets and neighborhood businesses in the City of Buenos Aires, the basic food basket reported presented an increase of 8.2% in March. Data that, although it represents a deceleration with respect to the 11.8% registered in February, continues to be very high. Thus, the entity added, the cumulative rise in the first three months is 29.7%.
As highlighted in the studywarehouse products rose 4.5% in March and accumulated a rise of 14.3% in the first three months. In the case of fruits and vegetablesthe jump was much greater: 28.8% in March and add up to an increase of 54.3% in the first trimester. The meatsmeanwhile, rose 2% in March and accumulated a rise of 31% in the year.
Similar figures were found in the survey carried out by the ISEPCI, in businesses close to the Buenos Aires suburbs. According to the report, the 57 products of the Basic Food Basket contemplated increased in March by 8.9% and accumulated, in the first three months of the year, a rise of 31.7%.
“After 2022 in which meat prices rose below the general average that all foods increased, this year this item has been rapidly ‘recovering’ ground. So in March meat rose 10.44%, and in the quarter 40.71%. They are still in the race fruits and vegetables, with increases of 12.56% for March, and 39.76% in the first three months. Finally, the products of store had increases of 6.26% and 22.66% respectively”, explained Isaac Rudnik, national director of ISEPCI.
“Clearly, in these first three months, the rise in food prices once again became the main driver of increases in household spending. And they inevitably have an impact on the general budget of families, which incorporates essential expenses in health, education, transportation, clothing, fees, and housing support expenses, which together with food constitute the Total Basic Basket (CBT)”, he remarked. Precisely, the Institute detailed that the CBT increased by 8.5% in March and accumulated a rise of 30.6% in the first three months of the year.
perspectives
“In March, the variation in food prices still maintains a high level at 7%, although falling from the 10% of the previous month in February. For its part, in the case of mass consumption, the variation in prices continues to be high. The year-on-year price increases of basic categories are in three digits on average compared to March 2022. Beverages increased 112%, Cleaning 103% and Personal Care 136.7%, on average,” explained Damián Di Pace from the Focus Market consultancy.
“Going forward, there are endogenous macroeconomic factors and an exogenous situation that will generate a lot of uncertainty about future inflation. On the domestic front, we continue to have problems with the origin of inflation, which is the fiscal deficit that continues to be financed with monetary issuance and debt placement in the domestic market. On the exogenous front, the drought has wreaked havoc in the face of a Central Bank without reserves that is generating a very large external restriction for the importation of inputs and raw materials,” the analyst concluded.
Beyond private surveys, the April 14th he INDEC will release the official figure for March, when it releases the Consumer Price Index (CPI). And on the 20th, it will disseminate the variation of the Basic Food and Total Baskets, after registering monthly growth of 11.7% and 8.3% in February, respectively.
Source: Ambito
