A report published this Friday by the consulting firm Quantum Finance showed that The prices of public service rates are those that should increase the most to return to the relative price scheme prior to the imposition of the stocks. exchange rate, back in 2019.
The work of the entity directed by the economist Daniel Marx It consisted of comparing the evolution of the general level of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) with the particular evolution of certain goods and services, between April 2019 and 2023.
The results showed rates, gasoline and salaries as the most lagging prices. In particular, Quantum argued, the light should increase 81% to equate to the inflation of the period in question. In addition, Gas should rise 42%, gasoline 32% and salaries in the formal private sector 29%.
The other price that lost the race against inflation was the official exchange rate, despite the several devaluations that the country went through in the last four years.
At the other end, milk, medicines and the blue dollar (adjusted for US inflation) were the values that grew the most compared to the CPI; To return to the relative prices of 2019, they should fall by 16%, 15% and 9%, respectively.
Meat and prepaid cards were the other two products that showed increases higher than the general price level, while clothing is in the same place as in 2019.
“At that time in the relatively recent past, the economy functioned without restrictions or greater controls and rates had been practically corrected after the freeze of 2003-2015. However, note that this form does not consider important contextual alterations that naturally occur throughout of time and that influence the prices of products and services; for example, international prices of raw materials, taxes, productivity, refunds, among others,” Quantum clarified.
Relative price evolution since December 2023
Since December 2023, the month in which Javier Milei’s new government made the decision to validate a discrete high jump in the exchange rate, accumulated inflation was 107%.
The goods and services that exceeded that figure in these five months were gas rates (+397%), prepaid rates (+177%), electricity rates (+174%), gasoline (+169%), milk (+145%), the official dollar (+143%) and medicines (+114%). On the contrary, only the blue dollar (+24%), clothing (+65%), salaries (+74%) and meat (+100%) had lower increases.
Source: Ambito
