BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Argentina’s December inflation rate will “clearly be substantially higher than in November,” Economy Minister Luis Caputo said in a televised interview Wednesday, as Javier Milei’s newly elected government grapples with an economy in crisis.
Monthly inflation in the Latin American nation hit 12.8% in November alone, the highest monthly figure this year, according to statistics agency data released earlier Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Caputo announced a slate of economic measures which include a more than 50% devaluation of the peso’s official exchange rate and cuts to energy and transportation subsidies.
Milei warned in his Sunday inauguration speech that a monthly inflation rate of 20% to 40% was expected from December to February.
The cuts to Argentina’s energy subsidies could go into effect in February or March next year, Caputo added in the interview with local TV channel Todo Noticias.
(Reporting by Eliana Raszewski; Writing by Kylie Madry; Editing by Sarah Morland)
