The main pressure on the August inflation figure came from the transport and communications division, with a monthly increase of 10.2%.
The Inflation in the first week of August was 1.8% according to a private estimate, while the core gave 1.4%. Also, the projection for the next few weeks, taking into account the aforementioned data, shows that Prices would increase by 3.1% in the monthly cumulative total.
According to data from the Consumer Price Index (CPI) of the consulting firm Orlando Ferreresthe main pressure on the August inflation data is provided by the division of Transport and communicationswith a Monthly increase of 10.2%. This was followed by household equipment and operation, and housing, with increases of 5.8% and 4.8%, respectively.
The situation is particular in food, for which a deflation of 0.3% is projected.. Recreation and clothing are two other divisions for which below-average increases are estimated.
Inflation: Private sector and government projections for July
The consulting firms and financial entities that participated in the Market Expectations Survey estimated a 3.9% inflation in July. Specifically, these were some projections:
- C&T Associates: 4.4%
- ACM: 4.2%
- Freedom and Progress: 3.9%
For its part, the Ministry of Economy expects that the official data for July, which INDEC will release on Wednesday, will be below 4% and will be the lowest of the year. The vice president of the Central Bank, Vladimir Werningreaffirmed that the entity’s forecast remains at 3.7% for the general CPI.
Werning said at a conference that the slowdown in inflation experienced this year (after 25.5% in December, resulting from the devaluation implemented by the Government itself) occurred together with a process of readjustment of relative prices.
Among the prices that were “late” and were corrected are “Electricity, gas and others”, public transport, communications and prepaid health insurance. However, other prices that were above their equilibrium value moved even further upwards: these were the cases of fruits and vegetables, 0km cars, medicines and packaged foods.
Among those that were already above their equilibrium price and have moved even further away are: fruits and vegetables, brand new cars, medicines and packaged food and drinks. Three of these items are very sensitive for the pockets of lower-income sectors.
Source: Ambito
