By Ryan Dube and Silvina Frydlewsky
BUENOS AIRES -- Argentines long battered by galloping inflation were hit even harder in December as food, fuel and drug prices skyrocketed during President Javier Milei's first month in office as he embarked on pro-market shock therapy to revive an economy in shambles.
The consumer price index rose 25.5% last month, bringing the annual inflation rate to 211%, government statistics agency Indec said Thursday.
The government and economic analysts expected a sharp rise in prices for everything from gasoline and beef to diapers and medicine as Milei attempts to fix the economic calamity he inherited from his left-wing Peronist predecessor, Alberto Fernández, who left his successor with a central bank without reserves, a fast depreciating currency and triple-digit inflation.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
01-11-24 1436ET
