In Argentina, inflation slowed to 2.8% in February after eight consecutive months of increases. This is the first deceleration since June 2023, according to Fundación Libertad y Progreso. The news agency Noticias Argentinas reported that inflation for the year so far stands at 5.8%, while the annual rate reached 32.7%, marking the fourth consecutive month of acceleration. In January, the cost of living had already risen by 2.9%. Economists attribute the slowdown to seasonal factors and the stabilization of the exchange rate. The financial exchange rate, for instance, fell by about 3% since the beginning of the year. Despite this, price levels remain high. The main contributors to the price increase were food, transportation, and medicine, which rose more sharply than the general index. Analysts expect the disinflationary trend to continue in the coming months, with the annual rate projected to be around 20% by 2026.
Tomás Amerio, an economist at Fundación Libertad y Progreso, commented that February marked the first break in the upward price trend in eight months. The key determinants were abnormal increases in meat prices and exchange rate volatility.
'The behavior of inflation this month combines exchange rate stability with a normalization in price dynamics, which supports the break in the rising inflation process we witnessed until January,' Amerio noted.
Julián Neufeld, also from the foundation, pointed out that the main drivers of the Consumer Price Index (IPC) in February were again food, transportation, and medicine, which increased above the general level.
Clara Alesina, an economist at the foundation, stated that inflation had accelerated in recent months due to seasonal factors and the lagged effect of the exchange rate hike. She expressed hope that the disinflationary path the government had achieved in its first year and a half would now resume.
