Two economic consultants measured increases in food and drinks during the first week of April and they coincided in highlighting a rise that has not been registered since February. Added to this are the inflation forecasts for March and the data that in the first two months of the year the basic and food baskets outperformed the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
Far away was the objective that the Minister of Economy needed, sergio masaThat the inflation April start with a 3. So far in 2023, the trend is bullish (6% in January, 6.6% in February) and March does not seem to be the exception: according to the Survey of Market Expectations (REM ) from the Central Bank, which asked 26 consultants and 14 financial entities for the numbers for the third month of the year, the figure would be located at 7%.
In this context, Eco Go put the thermometer among the gondolas during the first week of April and bad news in the food and beverages category decreased, which showed an average increase of 2%. For the LCG consultancy, focused on the values set by supermarket chains, the rise stands at 2.5%.
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The products that showed the greatest increase were citric fruits (8.3%), sugar and sweeteners (5.7%), fresh pasta (4.9), canned tomatoes (4.5%) and fresh and frozen hake, and fresh bovine offal and offal (4.3%).
With these numbers, both consultancies underline that although the last two weeks of March showed a slowdown, April was a part of the waters and prices skyrocketed again. Thus, the price rise was around 2%, the highest number since the third week of February.
In the large supermarket chains, LCG managed to get the vegetables (7.9%), takeaway meals (3.2%), meats and oils (2.6%) andbakery products, cereals and pasta (2%) were the products that showed the highest figures.
This Friday, meanwhile, the March inflation number for the INDEC will be known. However, the consultants are already looking at the data for the first week of April and estimate, taking into account the accumulated increases, that the number for month four can be around 6.5%.
The rise in food, above general inflation
The latest Ecolatina report on the country’s economic situation focuses on a phenomenon registered in the last quarter of 2022: the break in production between economic growth and poverty reduction, driven above all by the generation of informal employment and the appearance of the poor formal worker as a new social subject of this time.
Regarding the behavior of food and beverage items, the work is descriptive with one piece of information: they increased more than the CPI itself. “In addition, the salary will continue to be compromised by the inflationary acceleration: For the first quarter we estimate that the CPI will average 6.5% per month, compared to 5.4% in 4Q 2022”dice Ecolatina.
Inflation in the City of Buenos Aires was 7.1% in March
They also detail that “basic baskets accumulated increases of 19.8% (CBA) and 16.1% (CBT) in the first two months – surpassing the CPI (13.1%)– Affected by the marked rises in food (meat and fresh products)”.
Added to the data are those of the fall in wages which, according to the Research and Training Center of the Argentine Republic (CIFRA) of the Workers’ CTA, shows a negative trend since 2011.
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