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Inflation in Argentina: The government sharply devalued the national currency, the peso

Photo: Luis Robayo / AFP

The annual inflation rate in Argentina has risen to 211.4 percent. In December alone, prices in the South American country, which has been hit by a severe economic crisis, rose by 25.5 percent, according to the national statistics agency Indec in Buenos Aires. Above all, the costs of health, transport and food rose sharply. As a result, Argentina ended 2023 with the highest inflation rate since the hyperinflation of 1990.

The inflation rate in Argentina is one of the highest in the world. South America's second-largest economy suffers from a bloated state apparatus, low industrial productivity and a large shadow economy that deprives the state of many tax revenues.

The new ultra-liberal president, Javier Milei, wants to get Argentina back on track with a radical austerity program.

The government sharply devalued the national currency, the peso, and announced the reduction of subsidies on gas, water, electricity and public transport, which is likely to further fuel prices.

Kim/dpa