Although they highlighted that it was the lowest variation so far this year, the surveyed products accumulate an increase of close to 50% and they indicated that they grew above the minimum wage.
The cost of the basic food basket would have slowed down during may. This was indicated by a private survey, which in any case remarked that so far this year accumulates an increase close to 50% which is above the variation registered by the minimum wage in the same period.
This is clear from the survey carried out by the Institute for Social, Economic and Citizen Policy Research (ISEPCI), which detailed that during May the cost of the basic food basket (CBA) that it probes rose 5.06%while the total basic basket (CBT) climbed 5.09%.
“In May the increase in the value of the CBA (5.09%), without ceasing to be important, was lower than in the first four months of this year (10.5% average from January to April). This lower increase was due to the fact that although warehouse products once again suffered strong increases (+12.16% average), those of greengrocers had a drop (-2.48) and those of butchers remained stable”, it was explained in the study. And it was detailed: “Even though the increases moderated in May, the comparison with the evolution of the increases in the minimum wage continues to be widely unfavorable towards the latter. In the first five months of 2023, the Minimum Vital and Mobile Wage increased 36.41%, while the CBT increased 46.35% and the CBA foods increased their value 49.63%”.
In this scenario, Isaac Rudnik, national director of ISEPCI, mentioned the launch of the Fair Prices program for local businesses, which seeks to contain the rise in mass consumption products in neighborhood stores and supermarkets. “These days the Government relaunched a reference price program for storage and cleaning products, to which it would later have added fruits, vegetables and meats, supposedly agreed with the wholesale chains destined for neighborhood businesses, to take effect from June 1. In a tour of the official government page, some 95 products are observed, among which are not some essentials such as bread and sugar, and others such as grass, which is listed at a value higher than what can be purchased in any retail store. ”, he detailed.
Other surveys
Meanwhile, according to the survey carried out by the group Free Consumers In Buenos Aires city, the food basket rose 8.2% in Mayexhibiting a slight slowdown compared to 8.5% in April, but accumulating a rise of 52.4% so far this year.
For the C&T consultancy, food and beverages climbed 8.4% in May. “He kicked off the month with great momentum and then eased off. Vegetables, dairy products and flour derivatives stood out, as did food consumed outside the home and to take away,” they explained.
For its part, for Focus Market, food rose 8.4% in May. “Inflation falls compared to the data in the month of April in the food category”, Damián Di Pace, director of the firm, explained in this regard, who explained: “The increase in prices is being reflected in the duality of purchasing behavior of Argentines. While in the local formats mass consumption sales collapsed 16% in May, in large stores where Fair Prices are, they continued to grow at 6.4%. In this scenario, the Government has now agreed on a basket of 108 products for local formats. However, it is very limited for the general variation in prices of all the goods and services that the pocket of Argentines is suffering.
Source: Ambito
