2023-05-03 20:21:17
INDEC invented a controversy by postponing the spread of April inflation, arguing that the scheduled date coincided with the electoral ban in five provinces.
In the midst of increasing pressure due to the constant increase in prices, the agency announced this Tuesday that the report on the variation of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for last month will be published on Monday, May 15 instead of Friday, May 12. as scheduled.
The main references of the opposition came out to question the measure and accused the Government of insisting on “old practices” of data manipulation.
Private analyzes show that inflation in April exceeded that of March and was close to 8%, marking a dangerous trend.
The direction of INDEC argued that the planned output for this indicator coincided with the electoral ban in five provinces that have general elections on Sunday, May 14: La Pampa, San Juan. Salta, Tucumán and Tierra del Fuego.
The body in charge of Marco Lavagna explained that the 2023 dissemination calendar was diagrammed in advance of the provincial decisions to set an election date and that consequently, in order to respect the electoral rules, the output of various reports had to be rescheduled.
This is how the report on sales in supermarkets, wholesalers and shopping centers for the elections in Córdoba and Formosa also went from Friday, June 23 to Wednesday, 28.
In October, the report on the trade balance was moved from Friday the 20th to Monday the 23rd, since Sunday the 22nd will be the general elections throughout the country. And in November, a new report on foreign trade was postponed from Friday the 17th to Monday the 20th due to the eventual run-off that would take place on Sunday the 19th.
For the opposition, these modifications do not respond to institutional respect for current regulations, but to the intention of manipulating information to avoid harming candidates allied to the national government.
The legislator for Radical Evolution, Martín Tetaz, was direct: “This is outrageous. The government kicks the communication of inflation data because it is afraid of losing, among others, the province of La Pampa”.
The head of the Government of the City of Buenos Aires, Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, pronounced in a similar sense, who considered that “inflation in April was dramatic. The responsibility lies entirely with the national government. They will be able to hide it, disguise it or hide it as they have done with so many other problems. But never once more will the bad governments be able to deceive the Argentines. We are going to change this too.”
April inflation was dramatic. The responsibility lies entirely with the national government. They will be able to hide it, disguise it or hide it as they have done with so many other problems. But never once more will the bad governments be able to deceive the Argentines. We are going to change this too. pic.twitter.com/fuEFAa3Z0z
— Horacio Rodríguez Larreta (@horaciorlarreta) May 3, 2023
The pre-candidate for president for Together for Change, Patricia Bullrich, joined the critical voices by stating that “once once more Massa and the Kirchnerists use statistics to hide reality and manipulate public opinion for political purposes. We know how much this cost Argentina.”
For his part, the governor of Jujuy and also a candidate for the presidency for the opposition coalition, Gerardo Morales, maintained that “it was useless in another time that they lied with the INDEC data, nor is it useful today to postpone its publication due to pure electoral speculation . That does not change the reality of people. In December the deception, manipulation and Kirchnerist cynicism will end”.
Meanwhile, Mauricio Macri’s former Minister of Economy, Hernán Lacunza, affirmed that “official statistics are a public good, not an act of government,” remarking that it is “a citizen’s right to make decisions. For example, vote.
Again Massa and the Kirchnerists use statistics to hide reality and manipulate public opinion for political purposes.
We know how much this cost Argentina.
With me, it won’t happen. pic.twitter.com/KexEnG5XzV— Patricia Bullrich (@PatoBullrich) May 3, 2023
He added that “the voter already knows that there is inflation”, asked that “they should not underestimate it and stressed that” altering the calendar for electoral purposes is also manipulating the statistics.”
In turn, the pre-candidate for head of government for the City of Buenos Aires, Martín Losuteau emphasized: “ once more the Ks getting their hands on INDEC. Before they spread false statistics. Now, they hide the inflation data from us so that it does not coincide with the elections. Really fight inflation and stop lying to the Argentines”.
Faced with this picture of the situation, the national deputy for Cordoba radicalism, Mario Negri, called for Lavagna’s resignation if the decision to postpone April inflation is not rectified.
Marco Lavagna, a person with whom I have had personal respect, if he does not rectify this decision, then immediately leave office. If not, he will be remembered as the one who brought the old INDEC policies to Kirchnerism. https://t.co/kUcfWJ7zLo
— Mario Raúl Negri (@marioraulnegri) May 3, 2023
“The INDEC thing is a huge embarrassment. Every day they give worse news from Kirchnerism. They believe that people are stupid, that they hide inflation by not giving the figure, when you pay every day with your pocket,” Negri said.
For his part, Javier Milei retweeted a post by the leader Natalia Motyl who stated: “Delaying the publication of data for electoral reasons is very serious. They only remember the darkest times of INDEK”.
Very serious delaying the publication of data for electoral reasons. They only remember the darkest times of INDEK.
— Natalia Motyl (@naty_motyl) May 3, 2023
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