Inflation in Argentina reached 36.2% in the first half of 2022.

inflation from Argentina reached 36.2% in the first half of 2022 with a 5.3% increase in June against the background of growing complaints about the economic policy of the presidential government Alberto Fernandez.

inflation year on year from June 2021 to June 2022 was 64%. According to the State Institute of Statistics, the largest growth last month was in healthcare (7.4%) and housing and services (6.8%).

This figure is known on the day of demonstrations by popular organizations, when thousands of people marched to the doors of the Casa Rosada, the residence of the president, demanding more social assistance, as well as the creation of universal income for the most disadvantaged. .

“What we see is the worsening day by day, year by year, of the living conditions of the neighbors, the workers in every district, both the unemployed and the employed, who are also deteriorating,” he told reporters. AFP Gabriela Calarco, member of the Teresa Rodriguez Movement.

According to INDEC, the basic basket for a family of four reached 100,000 pesos ($813 at the then official exchange rate) in May, but that month’s minimum wage was 39,000 pesos ($317).

Currency devaluation

Poverty covers 37% of the population, and unemployment is 7%.

Argentina has been suffering from high inflation for years, with a rate of 50.9% in 2021. But price growth accelerated in 2022, at the height of the global crisis due to the war in Ukraine. The CPI is estimated to close this year at 76%, according to the latest expectations survey by the central bank.

Along with shooting from inflationthe currency is under strong pressure, despite the fact that currency controls have been in place since 2019 and are becoming increasingly strict.

The official exchange rate was 135 pesos to the dollar this Thursday, but the Argentinean currency traded around 290 pesos to the dollar on the black market and the bond market, showing a gap of about 130% between the two rates.

Adding to the demands of public organizations this week were also demands from farmers who on Wednesday stopped selling grain and livestock for 24 hours and demonstrated on the country’s main highways demanding tax relief, as well as better supplies of inputs and fuel.

Argentina is one of the largest food producers in the world. Agro-industrial exports are estimated to hit a record $41 billion in 2022, about $3 billion more than in 2021.

(AFP)