Consumer prices in Argentina soared 12.4 percent in August compared with the previous month, the highest rate since February 1991 — a high-water mark that could influence the country’s upcoming presidential race.
Argentina’s annual inflation rate rose to 124.4 percent, according to figures released by the government’s INDEC statistics agency on Wednesday.
Experts say that those numbers will put the ruling centre-left coalition on the defensive, as the October 22 general election approaches.
Argentina has been suffering from galloping inflation for years, but August marked the first time in more than two decades that the monthly rate reached double digits, a phenomenon that is likely to be repeated in September, according to economists.
Amid the sharp rise in consumer prices, Economy Minister Sergio Massa is trying to convince Argentineans to elect him as president.
But Javier Milei — a self-described “anarcho-capitalist” and a right-wing populist who shook up Argentina’s political system by receiving the most votes in last month’s national primaries — appears to be the favourite to win.
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