The Milei government completes ten months this Friday with the fall in the Consumer Price Index (IPC), with a record of 3.5% last month, after reaching 25% in December, following the strong devaluation of the peso . In recent months, inflation has remained at around 4% per month and the expectation was when it would drop to a lower level. In the first nine months of this year, the increase reached 101.6%. Among the Mercosur countries, Argentina remains the only one that has not resolved the unbridled rise in prices. In the case of South America, the country also continues to lead this indicator, as Venezuela recorded inflation of 3.4% in September, according to the Venezuelan Finance Observatory.
The president has reiterated in his speeches and on his social networks that zero fiscal deficit is his main goal. Milei states that this way the longevity of inflation will be combatted. In September, the decline was possible because food prices rose less and because the parallel dollar (which tends to be a fuel for price markdowns) fell.
Other indicators of the Argentine economy remain resilient. The World Bank reported that Argentina is expected to record, this year, the second worst contraction in Gross Domestic Product (GDP), with negative 3.5%. It just won’t be more dramatic than Haiti with a 4.2% drop in GDP. Economists from the international organization warned of the sharp increase in poverty in Argentina. The rate of around 40%, which was already very high when Milei took over, jumped to more than 52% – the highest in 20 years. The economic and social mosaic of Argentina today shows that it is right to celebrate.