LatinNews Daily Report - 20 February 2012

Argentina | Inflation. Over the weekend (18-19 February) a group of former technicians from the national statistics institute (Indec) released their own calculation of the cost of the basic basket of goods, putting it at AR$5,502 (US$1,264). This figure, which is used to establish the poverty line, is 297.2% higher than that reckoned by official Indec calculations (AR$1,385 or US$318.23). Furthermore, the former Indec technicians put the cost of the basic basket of food, used to determine the extreme poverty threshold, at AR$1,754 (US$403.02), while the official one stands at AR$627.32 (US$146.44). The Indec reported monthly inflation of 0.9% in January, the highest for a single month in the past two years, while the unofficial estimate produced by the opposition in congress, based on the calculations of several private consultants, stood at 1.9%.

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