In the city of Buenos Aires, a family of four needed 282,452 pesos in August to not be considered poor. The basket used by the General Directorate of Statistics and Censuses of the City (Dgeyc) grew by 13.1 percent in the month, which gives an idea of ​​the level of deterioration of the purchasing power of the low-income sectors that produced the sudden increase . .in dollars applied by the Government after PASO. This is the first official data referring to the price change in the month of August.
Meanwhile, the basket that measures poverty in the City amounted to 158,668 pesos, marking an increase of 14.5 percent compared to last month. In July, both baskets increased by an average of 5 percent. According to the development of some private consulting firms, a similar increase is expected in the month of September, this is because the effect of devaluation has many stages of impact on consumer prices.
The Total Basic Basket (CBT) in Buenos Aires in August was 282,452 pesos, compared to 249,648 pesos in July, in the case of a typical family formed by a traditional couple, male son and female daughter. In the case of a single-person household, of an economically active male adult over 25 years old, the CBT increased to 96,277 pesos in August, compared to 85,652 pesos last month, that is, it increased it is 12.4 percent.
In the case of the Basic Food Basket (CBA), in August the value was 158,668 pesos against 138,534 pesos in July. CBA increased at a higher rate than CBT, indicating that food prices are more sensitive to devaluation relative to a wider set of goods. If these values ​​are compared to a year ago, in the case of CBT a growth of 133 percent was observed, while in CBA, the growth was 141 percent.
Middle sectors
Neither of the two baskets includes the cost of rent and expenses, which in the City of Buenos Aires are particularly noticeable. According to the latest survey by the Scalabrini Ortiz Center for Economic and Social Studies (CESO) for the month of August, the median rent for studio apartments in CABA is 140 thousand pesos and for two-room apartments, 170 thousand pesos, which no thought of cost. , which amounts to an average of 12.4 percent of the rental price, the report maintains.
When the price of rent and expenses are taken into account, the statistics of Buenos Aires show that the line that allows the population to enter the category of “non-vulnerable poor” is located at a monthly income of 348,316 pesos for a typical household in August, noted an increase of 13.2 percent from July.
Meanwhile, the fragile middle sectors are those who can cover the CT but do not exceed it by 1.25 times, that is, their income is less than 435,395 pesos in August. The middle class is the one that covers the former maximum limit but does not multiply CT by 4 and is those families whose income did not exceed 1,393,264 pesos last August. Those who do are the wealthy classes.
IPC
Meanwhile, this Wednesday the 13th, Indec will announce the national inflation for August. According to the latest known study on the matter, from Umet, the price increase is 10.7 percent in the month. According to this measurement, “the chapter that increased the most is entertainment and culture, with 14 percent, driven by the development of electronics (for example notebooks increased by 33 percent), whose prices are generally close to tied to the dollar.”
The second chapter with the highest increase was transportation (13 percent), followed by health (12.7). Food and beverages, the most important chapter of the basket, increased by 9.8 percent, driven by infusions, meat, dairy products and fruit, all with double-digit increases. Meanwhile, education increased by 7.4 percent. The Indec figure is expected to have a big political impact, in the context of the election campaign.
