Economy Minister Axel Kicillof has announced that inflation for the month of February reached a total of 3.4 percent, according to the latest figures released by the National Institute of Statistics and Census’ (INDEC) Consumer Price Index.
The politician also took the opportunity to dispute price rises put in place due to the devaluation of the peso against the dollar, arguing that such increases had no economic justification.
«Not even the most import-heavy sectors have a reason to impose increases due to the rise in the dollar,» Kicillof explained during today’s conference.
«Due to the exchange variations in January there were certain productive sectors that decided to mechanically pass the value of the dollar onto their prices. It is a decision that, from an economic point of view, makes no sense, they simply moved prices.»
The areas of the economy which registered the steepest price increases were in food and drink, at 4 percent, clothing (1.4%), home furnishings (4.8%) and medical attention, which rose a total of six percent over the month.
Kicillof underlined that the statistics compiled for February did not cover solely the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires, but «the entire nation.»
The minister also highlighted what he called a «deceleration in prices» in the second fortnight of the month, after a series of increases at the end of January onwards due to the devaluation of the peso.
«In January and February there were prices that climbed a lot and later they have evened out,» he asserted during his speech.
buenosairesherald.com