Inflation slowed in May to 2.1 percent, according to the INDEC national statistics bureau, decelerating for a second consecutive month.<\/p>\n
It is the lowest monthly figure for Argentina since last September and confirms an inflationary slowdown after consumer prices soared 3.4 percent in March.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The news is a boost for President Javier Milei, which made tackling consumer price hikes one of the centrepieces of his administration. Overall, inflation fell by half a point from the preceding month.<\/p>\n
According to INDEC, consumer prices have increased by 14.7 percent in the first five months of the year and have risen 33.2 percent over the past 12 months.<\/p>\n
Leading the hikes was communications, which rose an average 3.4 percent, mainly due to a surge in telephone costs. Education was the second-highest category with 2.9 percent.<\/p>\n
Healthcare (up 2.6 percent), housing and utilities (2.6 percent), food and non-alcoholic beverages (2.5 percent) and goods and services (2.4 percent) all recorded above-average increases.<\/p>\n
The categories recording the lowest increases were alcoholic beverages and tobacco (up 0.8 percent) and clothing and footwear (0.3 percent).<\/p>\n
According to INDEC, seasonal prices soared 3.5 percent, with a notable rise for vegetables, with regulated prices rising 2.4 percent and core inflation of 1.9 percent.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Most market analysts had anticipated a monthly reading of around 2.3 percent for May. Consultancy firms generally opted for a figure of between 2.1 and 2.4 percent.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Battle against inflation<\/strong><\/p>\n Curbing inflation is a key objective of Milei, who took office in December 2023 with promises to revive the economy by slashing public spending.<\/p>\n The President cheered the latest INDEC measurement, praising the work of Economy Minister Luis Caputo in a post on social media. He noted that core inflation had dropped below the two-percent threshold.<\/p>\n Argentina recorded its first budget surplus in a decade in 2024 thanks to austerity cuts, but the collateral damage was a loss of purchasing power, jobs and consumer spending.<\/p>\n Milei devalued the peso by more than 50 percent, cut spending and froze budgets, driving annual inflation down from 211.4 percent in December 2023 to 117.8 percent in December 2024.<\/p>\n Argentina\u2019s economy expanded last year after two years of contraction.\u00a0<\/p>\n However, the growth was uneven, with some sectors \u2013 such as financial services, agriculture and mining \u2013 expanding, while others \u2013 like manufacturing and retail trade \u2013 slowing.<\/p>\n Unemployment remains concerning, increasing by 1.1 percentage points to 7.5 percent over the past year, not including the large number of people informally employed across the country.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Purchasing power<\/strong><\/p>\n For many Argentines, the difference between INDEC\u2019s reading and everyday prices remains substantial.<\/p>\n A report published in May by the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) notes that between November 2023 and April 2026, those living on the minimum wage lost 39.3 percent of its purchasing power.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are certain kinds of purchases that give you a moment of optimism \u2013 something you haven\u2019t bought for a while and hoped would have gone up in price but hasn\u2019t, or a service that\u2019s stayed the same for months,\u201d says Horacio Barros, a 41-year-old music producer, on the streets of Buenos Aires.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you try to give in to that optimism, you realise you\u2019ve run out of money sooner than you did last month,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n INDEC\u2019s analysts said Thursday\u00a0that a family of four needed 1,498,741 pesos in May to be classified as above the poverty line, a two-percent increase on the previous month.<\/p>\n The monthly change in the basic food basket (CBA) in May was 2.4 percent. The total basic basket (CBT) rose by two percent.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u2013 TIMES\/AFP\/NA<\/strong><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\nrelated news<\/h6>\n<\/p>\n<\/section>\n