Overview
- The IMF reiterated on Tuesday that Argentina’s official Consumer Price Index still uses consumption weights tied to 2004/05 household data, which the fund says makes the index less representative of current spending patterns.
- The government committed in 2025 to adopt a new CPI method but postponed the January 2026 rollout, with Economy Minister Luis Caputo saying a fresh household survey is needed and changes should wait until desinflation is more settled.
- Technical work prepared under former INDEC chief Marco Lavagna would use the ENGHo 2017/18 and shift more weight to housing, energy, transport and communications while reducing the weight of food and clothing, a change that would alter measured inflation and affect contracts and market signals.
- The IMF’s report also flagged broader data gaps, saying national accounts lack granularity and use an outdated base year and that external sector statistics are released quarterly with a three-month lag, and it offered technical assistance while calling for legal and institutional modernization of INDEC.
- The fund welcomed greater transparency at the central bank and said the next moves to watch are whether Argentina schedules a new household survey, accepts IMF technical help, or sets a new date to implement the revised CPI, with consequences for policy credibility and market confidence.