Paola Lavezzari, also in publishing, said inflation was
forcing her to tighten the purse strings and buy cheaper
products.
"The first thing you lose is the quality of the product.
Because what you used to consume of a better quality, today is
unaffordable," she said.
"Things were always maybe 10 pesos more, but now it's 100
pesos more. ... When you make the monthly shopping trip, it's so
much. The difference is huge."
($1 = 214.6700 Argentine pesos)
(Reporting by Horacio Soria and Juan Bustamante; Writing by
Anna-Catherine Brigida; Editing by Sandra Maler)
By Horacio Soria and Juan Carlos Bustamante
BUENOS AIRES, April 14 (Reuters) - Argentines, painfully
accustomed to decades of spiraling prices, say that the current
102.5%-and-climbing inflation rate is on another level and is
making it almost impossible to get by.
"In my case, I have zero capacity to save," said Claudia
Hernansaez, a publishing company employee.
"I try to think that someday we're going to be better off.
But the inflation we're living with today in Argentina is
terrible. It feels like never before."
The South American country is expected to announce March
inflation data on Friday afternoon, with analysts polled by
Reuters predicting an 8-month high 7.1% monthly rise. A central
bank poll forecasts annual inflation to hit 110% this year.
That has hammered salaries and spending power, pushed up
poverty to near 40%, and dented the popularity of the ruling
Peronist coalition, which is facing likely defeat in general
elections slated for October.
The country, a major global grains exporter, is also
grappling with one of its worst droughts in history, that has
hammered soy, corn and wheat crops, knocking billions off the
economy from lost exports and fanning domestic prices.
Now every trip to the supermarket is a reminder of the
country's inflationary crisis, the worst since 1991 and the end
of a period of hyperinflation. Retiree Juan Tartara said prices
spiked with each weekly visit to the store.
"Sometimes food increases 10% or 15%," he said. "In one
year, beef went from around 1,000 pesos ($4.66) or 1,200 pesos
to 2,800 pesos."
Inflation will likely be one of the deciding issue for
voters in the October elections, where libertarian economist
Javier Milei has been gaining traction in the polls with his
promises to break the status quo.
President Alberto Fernandez's approval rating has decreased
as inflation soars, and currently hovers just above 20%. He has
not yet confirmed if he will seek reelection for a second term.
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