The IMF shares a few thoughts on Argentina

Rodrigo de Rato, IMF Managing Director...

QUESTIONER: What is your opinion of the evolution of the economic policy of Argentina nine months after the full payment of the debt with the IMF?

MR. DE RATO: ... Current economic performance has been very strong and there is a very important achievement in poverty reduction and employment generation in Argentina. As I mentioned also in the case of Brazil.

...

We have seen administrative measures to bring down inflation, but we believe that those measures will introduce distortions and will not be very effective. So we have expressed publicly to the government also that we think that the government should move to more use of fiscal and monetary policy in this respect.

Nevertheless, we believe that there is a big opportunity for the Argentinean economy and the Argentinean society to overcome the very high cost of the last crises, and we look forward to work with the Argentinean government in that respect.

from an uninformed, ex-pat, temporary resident, grassroots perspective, here's what i'm seeing (with a peso-dollar exchange rate of 1-3.09)...

• inflation last year was 12.9% and is running slightly less than that this year
• supermarket prices are up roughly 20% per item
• the taxi base fare went from 1.44 pesos to 1.90 pesos
• electricity, natural gas, and water are stable
• restaurant prices have increased by 20+%
• rents and purchase prices for homes and apartments are up by roughly the same amount
• wages and salaries for some groups (primarily unionized groups like teachers and transport workers such as subway and train drivers) have increased, in some instances by 25%
• subway, train, and bus fares are stable (example: a 4-stop train ride that takes me from my house to the center of town costs 50 centavos, approx. 15 U.S. cents)

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