LatinNews Daily - 15 April 2024

*Argentina’s national statistics institute (Indec) has released the latest consumer price index for March, which shows a decrease in monthly inflation for the third consecutive month. Monthly inflation in March was 11.0%, down from 13.2% in February, 20.6% in January and 25.5% in December 2023. However, the annual rate continued to rise, reaching 287.9%, up from 276.2% in February, 254.2% in January, and 211.4% in December. According to Indec, the steepest monthly price increases in March were for education (+52.7%), communications (+15.9%), and housing, water, electricity, gas & other fuels (+13.3%). Despite the growing annual rate, Argentina’s central bank (BCRA) announced on 11 April that it was cutting its benchmark interest rate from 80% to 70%, citing a slowdown in inflation.