Argentina inflation seen speeding in 2023, central bank poll shows

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Argentina’s inflation rate is seen hitting 99.9% in 2023, speeding up from last year’s rate and topping previous estimates which saw a slightly slower rise, according to a central bank poll of analysts released Friday.

The forecast, which is 2.3 percentage points above the 2023 rate projected in last month’s poll, comes amid a prolonged financial and social crisis in one of Latin America’s largest economies.

The annual inflation rate in 2022 hit 94.8%, according to Argentina’s statistics institute.

February’s monthly inflation is estimated at 6.1%, speeding up from the 6% registered in January, according to the median of estimates.

Argentina’s economy is also expected to stagnate in 2023, down from an expectation of 0.5% growth shown in the last poll.

The country’s average nominal exchange rate will also likely weaken to 330.47 pesos per U.S. dollar by the end of the year, analysts projected.

The survey was carried out between Feb. 24 and 28 among 40 participants.

(Reporting by Maximilian Heath; Writing by Kylie Madry and David Gregorio)