A median monthly forecast came from 20 analysts polled by Reuters, with estimates ranging from 7% to a maximum 8.3% monthly rise. Official data for April is expected on Friday.
Predictions are a modest improvement from the 7.7% recorded in March but still well above what the government had pledged earlier this year.
The country's soaring prices have largely been attributed to a bout of central bank money printing as well as ineffective measures to tame inflation such as price freezes on goods and preferential exchange rates for agricultural exports. Analysts said that pressures on prices were likely to persist, as the government struggles to prop up the peso currency which has tumbled in black market trading in recent weeks. Confidence in the government’s ability to shore up the peso and fix the economy is evaporating.
"The inflation floor is getting higher, because there is no clear economic course which is generating a lot of uncertainty and distrust in our currency," said Lautaro Moschet, an economist at the Libertad y Progreso Foundation.
For many households the financial situation was becoming “dramatic” because people's purchasing power is collapsing at breakneck speed, he added. A separate central bank survey earlier this month showed inflation soaring past 126.4% in the 12-months to April, the highest in over three decades.
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Battling inflation in Argentina Battling inflation in Argentina ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Reporting by Hernan Nessi and Lucinda Elliott Editing by Frances Kerry)
Messaging: Lucinda.elliott@thomsonreuters.com))