BUENOS AIRES: Argentina's official inflation rate stayed flat at 0.8 percent in April, matching March's pace and coming in slightly above expectations, the INDEC statistics agency said on Friday.
Argentina's inflation data is widely discredited as too low to reflect true price growth in the economy. Private estimates showed consumer prices rose between 1.5 percent and 2.5 percent last month, although analysts in a Reuters poll forecast official inflation at a median of 0.7 percent.
Annual inflation is estimated privately at around 25 percent, one of the world's highest rates. The INDEC reported 12-month inflation through April at 9.7 percent, unchanged from March.
The biggest consumer price gains in April were in education and clothing, which increased 2.8 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively, the INDEC said.
Prices for food and beverages, the most heavily weighted item, rose 0.7 percent.
Argentina's center left government has fined private consultants for publishing what it deems deceptively high inflation figures. Economists say this is meant to silence them ahead of October's election, in which President Cristina Fernandez is expected to run for a second term.
A few private consultants have stopped releasing inflation estimates altogether, while others will only release the data anonymously.
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