Argentine consumer confidence plunges 15.6% in February; down almost 25% since November.
The Torcuato Di Tella University Business School's Financial Research Center (CIF) reported that the Index of Consumer Confidence fell in February to 45.6, a 15.6% decline from January and a 24.5% plunge from 60.4 in November.
The report pointed to the sharp run-up in prices since President Mauricio Macri ordered a 40% devaluation on December 17 as the principal cause for the decline in consumer confidence. Macri refuses to publish inflation data; but private estimates projects that inflation will reach 40% this year, up from 25% in 2015.
The drop in confidence was especially severe for purchasing durable goods or real estate, the index for which fell 33.1% last month. Sizable declines were also registered for the other two components in the index: 12.4% less confidence in respondents' personal financial situation, and 9.7% less confidence in macroeconomic conditions.
The index also registered noticeable regional disparities, with respondents outside the Buenos Aires metro area registering a 7.9% decline in confidence; those in Buenos Aires, by 12.4%; and those in predominantly working class Greater Buenos Aires, 20.8%. Indeed, those earning below the median income suffered a decline in confidence of 17.1%; while those earning more income saw confidence fall by 13.3%.
The CIF consumer confidence index, published monthly since March 2001, has averaged 47.3 over the last 15 years, reaching an all time high of 61.0 in January 2007 and a record low of 28.4 in September 2002.
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Yet he's bashful about releasing his data. He's probably laughing his gnarly, twisted nose off when there are no cameras around to document it.
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Doing his dance of the seven buttocks
Throwing confetti upon himself. [/center]
