Argentines struggle to make ends meet amid 100% inflation
The Hindu
Jesica Fernández used to join seven family members every weekend for a large beef barbeque
Jesica Fernández used to join seven family members every weekend for a large beef barbeque. Beef is no longer on the menu, and now they’re more likely to eat spaghetti or chicken wings.
In beef-loving Argentina, barbeques nowadays happen only on birthdays or special occasions, Fernández said.
Fernández (31) is among millions of Argentines struggling to make ends meet as the country’s annual inflation rate clocked in at an annual rate of 102.5% in February, the first time it has reached triple digits since 1991.
She was shopping at a market sponsored by the Lomas de Zamora municipality, some 25 kilometers (15 miles) from the capital, where businesses offer basic goods at cheaper prices in exchange for the free retail space.
“We buy less beef and we buy fewer things. In reality, you can’t give yourself the luxuries that you could before,” Fernández said,
The country's Indec statistics agency said this week that consumer prices increased 6.6% in February from the previous month, a higher number than expected, on top of years of double-digit annual inflation over the past decade. Food was among items that increased the most in February, rising 9.8% from January, in part due to a punishing drought that has pushed prices of meat and other goods higher.
“The situation is very difficult, and every day it gets worse,” said Daisy Choque Guevara, 42.