With inflation in the last 4 months of 90.2%,
basic foods
such as milk, bread, flour, onion and lettuce and household items such as disposable diapers, bleach, detergent, shampoo and toilet soap
increased more than 150% .
On a
list of 59 items
that INDEC publishes their monthly prices and variations,
16 increased more than 150%, 19 between 100 and 150%, another 21 between 50 and 100% and just 3 up to 50%
.
The products that increased more than 150% include:
Lettuce
(+385.3%)
Flan powder
(+329.6%)
Fine salt
(+197.1%)
Orange
(+195.4%)
Ground coffee
(+191.8%)
Onion
(+171.8%)
Fresh milk
(+164.9%)
Table bread
(+161.3%)
Canned tomato (
+160.9%)
Vienna sausage
(+154.6%)
Wheat flour (
+153.4%)
And in household items:
Disposable diapers
(+228.4%)
Shampoo
(+191.7%)
Liquid detergent
(+171.6%)
Soap in bread
(+163.5%)
Lavandin
(+156.1%).
For example, 390 gram table bread rose from $804.52 in November to $2,181.88 in March and fresh milk from $457.10 to $1,210.90 per liter.
Among those that
increased between 100 and 150%,
the most notable are water crackers (+145.4%), rice (+139.6%) and oil (+134%).
The 3 products that rose
less than 50% are sugar, sweet potato and round tomato.
Due to the greater weight they have in the calculation of the INDEC Price Index, food prices are the ones that push inflation up the most and hit the lowest-income individuals and families the hardest, although in the last 2 months the services took a leap, harming the middle class to a greater extent.
The
basic food basket increased 93.5% in 4 months,
above average inflation. And they explain the jump in poverty levels at a rate of one million new poor people per month, as Clarín reported on Sunday.
Food prices affect almost 30% on the Capital Price Index and Greater Buenos Aires. In the interior of the country, especially in the poorest regions,
this incidence is higher and can even be around 40%.
After the devaluation of December and with the official dollar semi-fixed, these increases in food and basic products meant that prices in dollars abroad are today lower than in the country, with the aggravating factor that the income of the population in Argentina in dollars are much lower than those of Europe or the United States. And these price spikes took place despite the fact that domestic consumption and production are falling, among other factors, due to the decline in the population's income, in especially salaries and pensions.
S.N.