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BCN-08
ARGENTINA-ECONOMY-INFLATION
Argentina ends 2018 with second highest inflation in Latin America
BUENOS AIRES, Jan 16, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Argentina ended 2018 with the
second-highest inflation figure in Latin America, behind only crisis-wracked
Venezuela, the national statistics institute said on Tuesday.
Argentina’s inflation rate of 47 percent was also the highest the country
recorded since 1991, when inflation hit 84 percent as lawmakers fixed the
peso to the dollar.
“Clearly, Argentina is amongst the five countries with the highest
inflation,” Martin Vauthier from Eco Go consultants told AFP.
“It’s very high. Argentina is a surprising case of a society that is used
to living with inflation.
“Inflation hasn’t been a problem in the world for several years, neither in
developed nor emerging countries.”
Argentina was hit by two major currency crashes in 2018 that saw the peso
lose 50 percent of its value against the dollar. Last month, the country went
into recession.
These economic woes forced President Mauricio Macri to head to the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) with his begging bowl, securing a $56
billion bailout loan.
To do so, he was forced into announcing unpopular austerity measures.
The IMF expects Argentina’s gross domestic product to drop by 2.6 percent
for 2018 and another 1.6 percent in 2019.
It still leaves the country far ahead of Venezuela, though.
Inflation there hit a staggering 1.35 million percent in 2018 and the IMF
predicts it will reach 10 million percent this year.
The country, run by controversial President Nicolas Maduro, has been in
recession for the last four years.
BSS/AFP/HR/0940