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Poll: Argentines doubt official inflation figures
AP/International Herald Tribune
August 20, 2008

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina: About 71 percent of Argentines don't believe official inflation figures reported by their government, which independent economists have widely criticized as artificially low, a survey released Wednesday found.

Only 10 percent of respondents said they trust official inflation reports, which are published monthly by Indec, Argentina's national statistics institute, according to a survey by Buenos Aires-based pollsters Ibarometro. The Aug. 19 survey of 700 people in metropolitan Buenos Aires had an error margin of 4 percentage points.

Annual inflation reached 9.1 percent in July, according to Indec, but analysts and consumer groups say the actual number is closer to 25 percent.

They accuse the government of manipulating inflation data to mask rising consumer prices a policy they say began when former President Nestor Kirchner replaced several officials at the traditionally independent Indec with allies of his government in 2007.

Argentina's current President Cristina Fernandez, Kirchner's wife, changed the way inflation is measured, narrowing the basket of goods used to measure price gains.

Critics say the new method ignores key areas where prices are rising fastest, and includes a large number of goods whose prices have been capped.

Inflation concerns have spooked some foreign investors. Citing inflation and growing political tension, Moody's lowered its outlook on benchmark Argentina bonds from "positive" to "stable," while Standard and Poor's cut its country rating to B, five levels below investment grade.