translated from Spanish: Argentine inflation sits bigger rise before election

Argentina’s monthly inflation rose in September the largest in a year after a currency drop, aggravating a series of negative economic data just 11 days before the presidential election .
Consumer prices have risen 5.9% since August and 53.5% since a year ago, according to statistics agency figures published on Wednesday. Economists had predicted a monthly increase of 5.5%, according to the average estimate in a Bloomberg survey.
Argentines will go to the polls on October 27 amid an economic backdrop of galloping consumer prices and shrinkage of the activity. The peso sank 26% in August after opposition candidate Alberto Fernandez defeated president Mauricio Macri by a wider margin than expected in a primary vote. That currency drop increased pressure on domestic prices even though the nation already has the highest borrowing costs in the world.
Fernandez won the primary vote by 16 points, a margin that analysts say Macri can’t beat. Investors fear Fernandez will overturn Macri’s pro-market stance and policy plans. Also, renegotiate the deal for a record loan with the International Monetary Fund.
In the month, food and beverage costs increased 5.7%, while health care increased 8.3% and clothing increased by 9.5%, according to the statistics agency.
Argentina’s struggles to control consumer prices set it apart from its Latin American peers. In neighboring Brazil, annual inflation of about 3% has allowed its central bank to lower interest rates to an all-time low, while increases in the cost of living have also slowed in Mexico and Chile.

Original source in Spanish