By Miguel Lo Bianco
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – José Luis Rodríguez, a bricklayer in Argentina, cannot get by on his paycheck anymore with inflation set to have climbed more than 6% in March alone, the highest level in years, as spiraling food and fuel prices dent the value of salaries and savings.
The South American grains-producing country will release its latest official inflation data later on Wednesday, with Economy Minister Martin Guzman already having warned that the monthly rate will be north of 6%, which would be the highest since at least 2018.
“Money doesn’t get you by nowadays,” Rodríguez told Reuters while building a wall at a construction site in Buenos Aires, the capital. “The reality is that it doesn’t buy you anything. If I get sick, I don’t know who is going to feed my family.
“You cannot be without work, otherwise there is no food, it is not enough. I am doing my best to fight against it.”
Argentina has been battling with high inflation for years with little success. That has been worsened as global commodities prices have climbed over the last year, exacerbated recently by the war in Ukraine.
People around South America have been hit, sparking protests against rising prices in Peru and long lines for food and fuel in Cuba. Central banks have been forced to sharply hike interest rates, a trend expected to continue.
Argentina’s inflation index is running above 50% on an annual basis and experts predict it will close out the year at nearly 60%. That takes a steep toll on Argentines, almost 40% of whom already live in poverty even as a rebound in growth from the coronavirus pandemic has helped reduce that number.
“A very serious element in Argentina is inflation, an indiscriminate increase in prices that means families’ incomes can’t make up for lost earning power,” said Eduardo Donza, a social debt researcher at the Argentine Catholic University.
The government of Latin America’s third largest economy sealed an agreement with the International Monetary Fund in March to reschedule some $44 billion in debt, which comes with economic targets including bringing down inflation.
Battling inflation in Argentina https://tmsnrt.rs/36BZUr1
Battling inflation in Argentina (Interactive graphic) https://tmsnrt.rs/3rg3GQn
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(Reporting by Miguel Lo Bianco; Writing by Lucila Sigal; Editing by Adam Jourdan and Leslie Adler)
