Vice President Victoria Villarruel clashed this Sunday with libertarian national deputy Juliana Santillán, who tried to downplay the rise in inflation, which came in at 2.2% in October. Villarruel responded to a post by a user who had harshly criticized the lawmaker and even hurled insults at her. The vice president mocked Santillán's explanation regarding the price increase, writing: "They're pieces worthy of Capusotto. It makes me laugh a lot." In the video Santillán shared, she said the variation in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is due to a "jump caused by a regulatory factor."
Juliana Santillán's explanation of the inflation figure
"October inflation came in at 2.2%. Although at first glance it seems like a slight acceleration compared to previous months, when we break down the index we see that the economy maintains a firm disinflation path," the lawmaker stated. According to her explanation, the increase was mainly linked to decisions related to tariffs and subsidies. "That specific jump is explained by a regulatory factor: the modification of the cold zone law and the adjustment to gas subsidies, which added 0.3% to the index. If we isolate this effect, October inflation would have been 1.9%, showing stability in the overall dynamic," she noted.
The deputy then moved on to the concept of core inflation to argue that underlying inflationary pressures continue to decline. "So, when we clean the index of all transitory factors, excluding both regulated and seasonal ones, core inflation stood at 1.5% monthly. This is the genuine speed at which prices are traveling and confirms that underlying pressures continue to ease," she argued.
Santillán also referred to the cumulative and annual evolution of prices. In that regard, she stated that the general index accumulated 26.3% so far this year and 33.31% year-over-year, while core inflation stood at 24.4% cumulative and 30.7% year-over-year. "So if we analyze this core pace of 1.5% monthly, we get an effective annual rate of 19.56%, the true inflationary regime toward which the economy converges once the short-term tariff shocks are overcome," the lawmaker concluded.
The impact of tariffs
Inflation accelerated to 2.2% in October, above what the market expected. The figure came in three tenths above September's 1.9% and four tenths above the 1.8% expected by the market, according to the median of the latest Market Expectations Survey (REM) by the Central Bank. It was the second consecutive month of acceleration since August's 1.7%.
Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels was the division that rose the most in October nationwide, at 4.2%. Shutterstock Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels was the division that rose the most in October nationwide, at 4.2%. The INDEC attributed that result to gas and identified three factors behind the increase: the update of the month's tariffs, changes in subsidized consumption blocks, and the modification of the Cold Zone regime.
The Food and non-alcoholic beverages category rose 2% nationwide and was the division that contributed the most to inflation in five of the six regions. Among the products that explained that impact, vegetables, tubers and legumes stood out, along with bread and cereals.