Inflation in five cities exceeded 1% in February, according to INEI

Of the 26 main cities in the country, some five exceeded 1% inflation in the month of February and are located mainly in the south. In this group are Puerto Maldonado (2.44%), Pucallpa (1.34%), Tacna (1.19%), Abancay (1.14%) and Cusco (1.09%). While in January there were nine cities that exceeded this level, according to the latest report from the National Institute of Statistics and Informatics (INEI).

The blockade of the main accesses to the cities had repercussions on the shortage of various products in markets nationwide, with Puerto Maldonado being the city most affected by the high cost of fuel, a situation that also impacted the rest of the cities located in the south of the country, the report detailed.

Inflation at the national level reached 0.49%, being well below the mentioned localities. The director of Phase Consultores, Juan Carlos Odar, pointed out that the number of cities in which the annual price indicator was lower in the previous month was decreasing, but in February it rose again to 11. “In the variations there is a strong component geographical area associated, on the one hand, with the protests and, on the other, with natural phenomena,” he specified.

It should be remembered that the head of the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), Alex Contreras, was optimistic when stating that indicators such as inflation are beginning to level off.

“Inflation is beginning to moderate in all regions of the world and this is being observed in Peru, which helps because it makes the severely contractive monetary policy begin to moderate or at least begin to reduce the rate of adjustment,” he said. .

Along the same lines, Odar opined that the annual inflation rates will drop in these two months and at the end of April they would already be “notably” below 8%, which will motivate the Central Reserve Bank of Peru (BCRP) not to continue raising its reference rate, as it has been doing in the last two months.

How did the capital do?

In February, inflation in Metropolitan Lima registered a rise of 0.29%. Including January, there are already 11 months in which this indicator has been falling. To the second month of the year a variation of 0.52% accumulates; while in the last 12 months it reached 8.65%.

The monthly result was influenced mainly by the higher prices of eviscerated chicken, chicken eggs and restaurant menus, as well as by the increase in prices of non-state school fees and gasohol, which together contributed 0.327% to the result for the month. It should be noted that the rise in the education division is seasonal due to the start of school classes in 2023.

The divisions that attenuated this increase were electricity rates (-4.0%) and some foods such as yellow and white potatoes, bonito and strong avocado, according to the INEI.

The most expensive food prices in Lima

In the month of February, of the 586 products that make up the basic family basket, 385 registered price increases, 103 fell and 98 showed no change.

These are some of the products that reported a higher increase with their average prices at the retail level: strawberry (S/8.00), mango (S/5.20), beetroot (S/2.34), eviscerated chicken (S/11.98) and green bean (S/4.52), according to the Midagri Price and Supply System (Sisap).

In the education division, the increase in prices in preschool and primary education (1.4%) stands out due to the increase in non-state school enrollment expenses, according to the INEI.