Inflation in some countries has become a real headache for consumers. In South America there are two of the countries that lead the inflationary advance in the world in interannual terms: Argentina and Venezuela. The neighboring country is number one globally.
In Argentina, inflation has been slowing down in recent months, and in May it had its lowest monthly increase since January 2022. The CPI for the fifth month rose 4.2%, however, so far this year it has accumulated an advance of 71.9%, and 276.4% in twelve monthss, which places it at the top of the countries in the world with the highest inflation.
Although inflation has been declining during Javier Milei’s government, consumers still do not feel real relief in their pockets, due to low wages and the increase in public services.
“The theme of the I still don’t notice inflation“I still don’t understand how inflation is going down,” Silvia Castro, a 65-year-old retiree, told Reuters a few weeks ago when the May CPI was released.
Inflation in Venezuela has also been declining, according to official data. In May the CPI rose 1.5%, and in interannual terms it accumulates an increase of 64.9%, which is close to the goal that the government of Nicolás Maduro has. So far in 2024, there has been an increase of 7.8%.
At a global level, Venezuela is the fifth country with the highest accumulated inflation in 12 months, and the second in South America. The third country in the region with the highest inflation level is Colombia with 7.16% annually.
Further back in the table region are Paraguay (4.4%) and Chile (4.1%). In the fifth month of the year, in our country, the CPI rose 0.3%, and exceeded 4% in twelve months.
According to the INE, twelve of the 13 divisions that make up the IPC basket contributed positive impacts on the monthly variation of the index and one presented negative impacts.
The rise in electricity bills has raised the inflationary expectations for 2024 and 2025. In its last Report, the Central Bank strongly raised its inflation estimates due to the increase in electricity rates starting in July of this year.
