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Argentina Delays CPI Overhaul After INDEC Chief Resigns

Economy Minister Luis Caputo said the updated index will wait until disinflation is consolidated, so the current measure will remain in use for the next releases.

Overview

  • Caputo confirmed Pedro Ignacio Lines as interim director after Marco Lavagna stepped down, citing differences over when to implement the new CPI.
  • Authorities said January inflation will be published using the existing methodology, postponing a switch that INDEC had planned to debut with January data.
  • Central bank work and academic estimates indicate the revamped basket, which gives more weight to services, would have lifted measured inflation in 2024–2025.
  • The suspended update adopts COICOP 2018, expands to 13 divisions by adding insurance and financial services, and reweights using the 2017–2018 household spending survey.
  • The delay raises independence concerns voiced by INDEC staff and unions, and it pushes back a change that had been flagged in technical plans and cited in IMF commitments.