No official inflation data was published in the past week. Estimates and high-frequency indicators from public and private sources monitored by the BCRA showed that prices in October evolved in line with the disinflation path set by the monetary authority.
Beyond the clear disinflation process over the past few months, the inflation expectations for 2017 obtained by the Market Expectations Survey (Relevamiento de Expectativas de Mercado, REM) carried out at the end of September by the BCRA are three points above the upper end of the target range of 12% to 17%.
Thus, the BCRA has decided to keep both the monetary policy rate (at 26.75%) and the repo rates unchanged. This measure seeks to consolidate this year’s disinflation process and to help inflation expectations for 2017 converge to the announced targets.
The BCRA will continue to take anti-inflationary measures to ensure a sustained disinflationary process to achieve the objective for this year (1.5% monthly inflation rate or lower in the last quarter), and a decreasing trend of inflation expectations for 2017.
