ARGENTINA: Economists Increase August Monthly Inflation Forecast To 1.6%

(RTTNews) - Economists increased their forecast for the monthly inflation in August by 0.1 percentage point (pp), to 1.6%, according to a survey conducted by the country's central bank. They also kept the median projection for the monthly inflation in September at 1.3%, but increased the forecast for October from 1.3% to 1.4%.

Regarding medium-term forecasts, annual inflation expectations for December 2017 remained at 22%, still above the central bank's target, which ranges from 12% to 17%.

The forecast for the benchmark interest rate in September rose to 26.25%, from 25% in the previous survey. Argentina's interest rate is at 26.25% per year since April.

The economists also expect Argentina's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth to increase 2.8% in 2017 (+0.1 pp compared to the previous survey), 3.0% in 2018, and 3.2% in 2019.