Argentina’s monthly inflation fell to 2.6 percent in April, its lowest level in nearly a year, the national statistics agency said on Thursday, a development welcomed by cost-cutting President Javier Milei.
Curbing Argentina’s infamous inflation is a key objective of Milei, who took office in December 2023 with promises to revive the economy by slashing public spending.
Argentina recorded its first budget surplus in a decade in 2024 thanks to austerity cuts, but the collateral damage was a loss of purchasing power, jobs and consumer spending.
Milei devalued the Argentine peso by more than 50 percent, cut spending and froze budgets, driving annual inflation down from 211.4 percent in December 2023 to 117.8 percent in December 2024.
The price index for goods and services had been on an upward monthly trend since May last year, reaching a peak of 3.4 percent last month.
“Returning to normal,” Milei posted on X, adding that inflation had slowed “despite coup attempts” from the opposition and the Middle East war that has rocked the global economy.
However, Milei later told streaming channel Neura that he would only be happy when the figure “hits zero.”
Cumulative inflation has reached 32 percent over the past year — a figure still considered high by Argentinians.
“In this country, everything goes up every two minutes,” Adriana Garcia, a 60-year-old French teacher, told AFP.
Transportation costs rose 4.4 percent this month, the national statistics agency INDEC said.
“People aren’t really feeling the drop in inflation, basically because wages have lagged behind the rate of inflation,” economist Guido Zack told AFP.
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