Inflation in crisis-prone Argentina accelerated more than expected and for a fifth straight month in January. The closely watched report's outdated methodology in recent days stoked political turmoil and created a headache for libertarian President Javier Milei. Argentina's statics agency reported Tuesday that consumer prices rose 2.
Shootings at school and home in northeastern British Columbia leave 10 dead, including shooterA person has been detained for questioning in disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, sheriff's office saysAnnual governors' gathering with White House unraveling after Trump excludes DemocratsNorwegian biathlon bronze medalist confesses to cheating on girlfriend in post-race interviewMovie Review: In 'Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die,' a man from the future fights an AI apocalypseSaks Global to close 8 Saks Fifth Avenue stores and 1 Neiman Marcus store in restructuringRaccoon goes on drunken rampage in Virginia liquor store and passes out on bathroom floorChicken wings advertised as 'boneless' can have bones, Ohio Supreme Court decidesWorries about flying seem to be taking off.
Here's how to cope with in-flight anxietyInspired by Picasso, an AP photographer visualizes a blind person ‘seeing’ art'Ticking environmental time bomb.' Illegal cannabis farms poison California’s forests.Worries about flying seem to be taking off. Here's how to cope with in-flight anxietyFDA to reassess the safety of BHA, a preservative used in popular snack foodsMeta and YouTube to face claims of social media addiction in children in landmark trialRelationship experts and couples say romance doesn't need grand gestures to thriveCatholic cross like no other is a beacon of unity in Olympic host city Milan“God bless America”: por qué el show de medio tiempo de Bad Bunny resonó más allá de EEUU Here's how to cope with in-flight anxietyInspired by Picasso, an AP photographer visualizes a blind person ‘seeing’ art'Ticking environmental time bomb.' Illegal cannabis farms poison California’s forests.Worries about flying seem to be taking off. Here's how to cope with in-flight anxietyFDA to reassess the safety of BHA, a preservative used in popular snack foodsMeta and YouTube to face claims of social media addiction in children in landmark trialRelationship experts and couples say romance doesn't need grand gestures to thriveCatholic cross like no other is a beacon of unity in Olympic host city Milan“God bless America”: por qué el show de medio tiempo de Bad Bunny resonó más allá de EEUUDiego Armando Custodio stands inside a coal sales market where he works in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. Cesar Tousedo grills meat to sell at a street stall in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. A butcher shop worker displays the prices of different cuts of meat in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. A customer pays for fruit at a greengrocer’s stall in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. A customer waits to be attended at a greengrocer’s stall in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. Diego Armando Custodio stands inside a coal sales market where he works in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. Diego Armando Custodio stands inside a coal sales market where he works in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. Cesar Tousedo grills meat to sell at a street stall in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. Cesar Tousedo grills meat to sell at a street stall in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. A butcher shop worker displays the prices of different cuts of meat in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. A butcher shop worker displays the prices of different cuts of meat in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. A customer pays for fruit at a greengrocer’s stall in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. A customer pays for fruit at a greengrocer’s stall in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. A customer waits to be attended at a greengrocer’s stall in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. A customer waits to be attended at a greengrocer’s stall in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Inflation in crisis-prone Argentina accelerated more than expected and for a fifth straight month in January, the country’s statistics agency said Tuesday, a closely watched report whose outdated methodology in recent days stoked political turmoil and created a headache for libertarian Consumer prices rose 2.9% last month compared with December, the statistics agency known by its Spanish acronym INDEC reported, largely owing to increases in the prices of food, restaurants, hotels and utility bills. Even so, economists say that the formula that INDEC used to calculate the inflation rate underestimates real price rises in a country reeling from massive budget cuts and deregulation measures under Milei, aAfter months of mounting pressure, Milei’s government said it would revamp the index used in the official inflation reports, which is currently based on consumption habits from 2004. It reads like a time capsule: Cigarettes, newspapers, DVDs and landline phones are considered key to the “basket” of goods and services consumed by the population. Not only does the formula fail to reflect how much Argentines spend on present-day staples like Netflix subscriptions and iPhones, experts say, it also assigns less importance to the cost of public services like electricity that have skyrocketed as Milei slashes generous subsidies. “It is very likely that the regulated public service prices in Argentina will see a strong increase this year, and this new methodology for measuring inflation will give those increases a lot more weight,” said Camilo Tiscornia, director of Buenos Aires consultancy C&T Asesores Economicos and a former central bank official.The government was expected to apply the new index for the first time in Tuesday’s report.The move, reviving memories of blatant tampering with inflation statistics by past populist governments, prompted the country’s widely respected national statistics chief to resign last week, sent Argentina’s benchmark S&P Merval stock index sliding several percentage points, and rattled investor confidence and public trust. “With this decision, a Pandora’s box was reopened,” said Sergio Berensztein, who runs a political consultancy in Buenos Aires. “I know the officials of the economic team, they are in no way going to repeat the mistakes of the past. But the public, the market, investors, society, have every right to distrust.” Elsewhere in the world, perhaps such a technical-sounding government decision would fall to the domain of data wonks and financial consultants. But it was the talk of the town in Argentina, a nation of amateur economists weaned on years of uncontrolled inflation and violent exchange rate volatility. “It generated a lot of questions, these controversies aren’t ever good for public opinion,” said Ana Stupi, a 58-year-old lawyer shopping in downtown Buenos Aires on Tuesday. “I hope that everything can be transparent so that this economic stabilization continues.”, who succeeded her husband Néstor Kirchner in November 2007, Argentina was accused of doctoring data to make inflation seem only a fraction as high as it really was. Between 2007 and 2013, the government fired technical staff at INDEC and packed the agency with political allies to conceal a mounting crisis. Fernández’s government even deployed fines and threats of prosecution to muzzle independent estimates of inflation numbers. “INDEC was heavily manipulated for many years ... I never trusted any of the data,” said Liliana Pastor, 65. “We know that everything like that gets adjusted according to political needs.” Experts say the decision to delay use of the new index did far more damage than whatever the publication of a higher inflation rate could. “It puts a short-term goal ahead of a long-term strategy,” said Marcelo J. García, Americas director at geopolitical risk firm Horizon Engage. “It gives the opposition an opening to criticize more substantially the credibility of the numbers that INDEC is producing and therefore question the credibility of the government.”— has been the government’s rapid reduction of Argentina’s notoriously high inflation, from over 211% annually in late 2023, when the radical libertarian leader took office, to 31% last year.and a controversial exchange rate scheme that kept the Argentine peso stable against the dollar, leading some economists to consider it overvalued and making But after hitting a low of 1.5% last year, monthly inflation has more recently ticked up, reflecting the challenges Milei faces in preserving his main political accomplishment. Concern is also growing over how stagnant salaries have lagged behind inflation, shriveling in value. “At the end of the day, prices are about what you can buy with your salary. And here and now, it’s obvious that you can buy less than you did a couple years ago,” said Facundo Diaz, a 33-year-old graphic designer. In the coming months, further subsidy cuts risk fueling higher inflation, as does a looser foreign exchange policy imposed last month that allows the peso to move more freely in the currency market. “Milei seems sort of puzzled by the fact that his theoretical beliefs led him to expect inflation to go down sharply and he’s facing a different reality that calls that into question,” said Ignacio Labaqui, a Buenos Aires-based senior analyst at risk consultancy Medley Global Advisors. “But the truth is it takes most countries between six to eight years to go from the levels of inflation that Argentina had to single-digit.”Although Tuesday’s higher-than-expected rate dealt a blow to Milei’s war against the country’s chronic price pressures, some experts expressed relief. In outpacing even most private-sector calculations, the INDEC inflation figure published Tuesday at least temporarily dispelled concerns that the government was cooking the books in any way comparable to his predecessors. “Fortunately, January’s inflation was high enough that nobody can really say that the index was manipulated,” Berensztein said. “If the figure had been 1.2% or 2%, it would not have been credible.”DeBre writes about Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay for The Associated Press, based in Buenos Aires. Before moving to South America in 2024, she covered the Middle East reporting from Jerusalem, Cairo and Dubai.
Inflation Argentina Economic Indicators Cristina Fernandez De Kirchner Buenos Aires General News International News Latin America Send To Apple News Central America South America World News Ana Stupi Business Sergio Berensztein Donald Trump Politics Liliana Pastor Marcelo J. Garca Netflix Inc. Ignacio Labaqui World News
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Top Five Liga MX Transfers of 2026 January Window—RankedA number of Liga MX teams secured stellar reinforcements during the winter for the Clausura 2026.
Read more »
Family honors Painesville woman lost in January fireAnchor at News 5 Cleveland
Read more »
North Carolina Sportsbooks Stay Hot, Record 11.7% Hold in JanuaryThe Tar Heel State’s eight online operators won back $80.3 million from a $686.9-million handle to kick off 2026.
Read more »
Dallas’ Most Booked Restaurants This JanuaryKnox-Henderson hotspot The Charlotte has entered the chat and Il Bracco in Park Cities still reigns, plus other popular Dallas restaurants.
Read more »
Bitcoin price news: BTC holding in tight range as markets brace for January employment dataTwo Trump administration officials suggested markets should brace for weaker-than-expected January employment data.
Read more »
Market Cap of Tokenized Assets Hit $24.6B in January, a New All-Time HighThe market cap of tokenized assets rose to $24.6 billion in January, reaching a new record as demand for tokenized treasuries and commodities accelerated.
Read more »