Argentine inflation keeps soaring, putting the government on the defensive as elections near
Consumer prices in Argentina have soared 12.4% in August, compared to the previous month, a number that puts the government on the defensive a little more than a month before presidential elections in which a right-wing populist who admires Donald Trum...
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Consumer prices in Argentina soared 12.4% in August, compared to the previous month, the highest rate since February 1991, a number that puts the government on the defensive a little more than a month before presidential elections in which a right-wing populist who admires Donald Trump appears the favorite to win.
Argentina’s annual inflation rate rose to 124.4%, according to figures released by the government’s INDEC statistics agency Wednesday.
Argentina has been suffering from galloping inflation for years, but August marked the first time in more than two decades the monthly rate reached double digits, a phenomenon that is likely to be repeated in September, according to economists.
Amid the sharp rise in consumer prices, Economy Minister Sergio Massa is trying to convince Argentines to elect him president rather than Javier Milei, a self-described “anarcho capitalist” who shook up Argentina’s political system by receiving the most votes in last month’s national primaries.
“It’s the number that summarizes the tragedy left by Massa,” Patricia Bullrich, the presidential candidate for the main opposition coalition, wrote on social media after the inflation number was released.
Recent polls show Milei leading ahead of general elections on Oct. 22 with Massa in second place and Bullrich third.
The high inflation rate is in large part a product of the government's devaluation of the local currency, the peso, by nearly 20% following the Aug. 13
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