(Bloomberg) – President Javier Millay denounced Argentina’s monthly inflation rate of 20.6% in January as “horrible” even though it was slightly lower than expected, and the result should be seen in context. he added.
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Millais’ government had been planning for a hyperinflation scenario, with annual inflation expected to exceed 200%, he said in a television interview with LN+ on Wednesday night. Consumer prices rose at an annual rate of 254% in January.
The president’s comments came more than two months after he took office, as his plan to curb soaring prices was confirmed in Argentina’s opposition-controlled Congress, where the government was unable to pass the necessary legislative reforms for its cornerstone reform bill. It was issued after failing to gain support.
Read more: Argentina’s inflation slows in Javier Millay’s first month
“Zero deficit is non-negotiable,” Milley said in his first interview after traveling to Israel and Italy. “The strengthening of central bank balance sheets is non-negotiable.”
Mr Millais said he withdrew the sweeping omnibus bill because it was better to have no reform at all than bad reform. He said the International Monetary Fund expects currency controls to be lifted by the second half of this year and will keep dollarization as a goal. He said the government would reduce the budget deficit by 5 percentage points, but did not say when that goal would be achieved.
Millay said Argentines understand what fiscal adjustment means and accept it.
(Updated to add inflation chart)
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