No official inflation data was published last week. Estimates and high-frequency indicators from both public and private sources monitored by the BCRA show heterogeneous signals regarding price trends in January, with better performance over the second half of the month than the first one.
As stated in the latest Monetary Policy Releases, the CPI for Greater Buenos Aires, published by the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas y Censos, INDEC), recorded a core inflation of 1.7% in December, which is equal to its monthly average for the second half of the year. The BCRA considers that core inflation should settle at a lower and declining level in the coming months, facing a year in which regulated price increases are expected to surpass those of other CPI components. The BCRA remains attentive to the forthcoming development to ensure that the inflation path is consistent with the inflation target for this year.
Based on all the available information, the institution has decided to keep its monetary policy rate, the center of the 7-day repo corridor, unchanged at 24.75%.
The BCRA will continue taking anti-inflationary measures to ensure a sustained disinflationary process towards its inflation target between 12% and 17% in 2017.
Dates of upcoming releases:
- – February 7
- – February 14
- – February 21
- – March 7
- – March 21
