(Adds graphics, analyst comment in paragraph 6)
By Miguel Lo Bianco and Hernan Nessi
BUENOS AIRES, May 12 (Reuters) - Argentina's annual
inflation rate soared to 109% in April, the country's statistics
agency said on Friday, smashing past analyst forecasts and
stoking anger among hard-hit consumers who are increasingly
having to skimp and save to get by.
The South American nation, an important grains exporter and
the region's no. 2 economy, posted 8.4% monthly inflation in
April, well above analyst forecasts of 7.5% and the highest in
decades. That took the 12-month rate to an eye-watering 108.8%.
The price spike has pushed one in four people into poverty
in a country that has battled for decades with high inflation,
along with cyclical debt and currency crises. Dwindling central
bank reserves are now imperiling the government's finances.
"They've turned us into a country of beggars," Carlos
Andrada, a 60-year-old self-employed worker, told Reuters as he
searched for cut-price deals at a vegetable stall at a market in
the suburbs of capital city Buenos Aires.
"One despairs because after working all your life, you have
to fight just to get a tomato or a bell pepper," he said.
The highest analyst estimate in a Reuters poll for April's
monthly inflation rate had been 8.3%. "The data exceeded all
forecasts," said economist Daniel Artana from consultancy FIEL.
Argentina's fragile economic situation has been aggravated
by a historic drought since last year, which has hammered
soybeans, corn and wheat exports, draining foreign reserves and
hindering the government's ability to fight currency weakness.
Volatility in the foreign exchange market, which saw the
peso hit record lows near 500 to the dollar in parallel markets
last month, has inflamed prices further and strained Argentina's
huge $44 billion loan deal with the International Monetary Fund.
"When I came last time (to the market), I paid 300 pesos a
kilo for bell peppers - it's 300 pesos a half kilo now," said
Olivia Maria Belbruno, 70, a retiree.
"These are the governments we have and we, the citizens,
must think because we are the ones who give them our votes."
The Peronist ruling coalition is battling to bring prices
down ahead of August primary elections and a general ballot in
October.
"I've stopped going out to eat once a month, we haven't been
on vacation anywhere for four years, we had to sell the car
because we couldn't pay insurance, licenses and garage costs,"
said graphic worker Salvador Paterno, 64.
"We use little air conditioning, heating. Everyone cuts back
on these habits to make ends meet - if you even make it at all."
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Battling inflation in Argentina Battling inflation in Argentina (Interactive graphic) Argentina: 100% inflation Argentina: 100% inflation (Interactive graphic) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
(Reporting by Miguel Lo Bianco and Hernan Nessi; Writing by
Nicolás Misculin; Editing by Adam Jourdan and Rosalba O'Brien)
Messaging: adam.jourdan.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
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