Argentina's inflation drops but poverty rates surge
Facing a financial crisis, Argentina concluded the year 2024 with inflation at nearly 118 percent, significantly lower than the previous year, according to official data. The government expressed satisfaction, emphasizing that it was the result of their economic "stabilisation plan."
According to data from the national statistics agency INDEC, monthly inflation in December was 2.7 percent, while annual inflation for the entire year 2024 was 117.8 percent. Argentina ended the previous year with a rate of 211.4 percent.
"In just 12 months we pulverised inflation"
"In just 12 months we pulverised inflation," wrote the Argentine Ministry of Economy on its social media account.
The head of the department, Luis Caputo, declared that inflation in December was the lowest for that month since 2018, which he considered "the continuity of the disinflation process." The rate of price increases consistently fell since April, when it reached nearly 300 percent annually.
Sworn in December 2023, Argentina's libertarian president, Javier Milei, is implementing an austerity program and "chainsaw cutting" of public expenses, aiming to lead the country out of crisis. This policy has contributed to a decrease in inflation, but the financial situation of many families has worsened, with the poverty rate exceeding 50 percent.
"People say inflation is going down, but here we always receive merchandise with different prices, it goes up and up," said 77-year-old pensioner Juan Carlos Gonzalez to Reuters, who works selling vegetables to supplement his pension.
