Inflation in Argentina surpassed 200% in 2023
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Decades of debt and financial mismanagement have left a catastrophic economic effect on Argentinians, with an estimated 40% living in poverty.
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A butcher cuts meat behind an "only cash" sign in Spanish at a market on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, Argentina, on January 10, 2024. (AP)
A majority of Argentinian households can no longer afford the traditional Argentinian barbecue due to extreme inflation that has topped 200% in 2023, Reuters reported.
The term 'asado', derived from the Spanish word for 'roasted', refers to both the distinctive grilling process for Argentinian barbecue and the lively social gathering among friends that typically precedes the meal.
Retiree Susana Barrio told Reuters that inflation has forced many Argentinians to "eliminate things that made life a little brighter," calling it "impossible" to have the barbecue now.
Decades of debt and financial mismanagement have led to a catastrophic economic effect on Argentinians, with an estimated 40% living in poverty.
According to official figures, the inflation rate reached 25.5% month on month in December. It is projected to rise quicker in the coming months after President Javier Milei's administration depreciated the peso by more than 50% last month as part of his so-called "shock therapy" policies to rescue the struggling economy.
Graciela Bravo, a 65-year-old retiree, told Reuters that she had begun meticulously calculating the number of potatoes she purchased. "Before you would purchase by the kilo, now I get three potatoes or four potatoes so they don't spoil," she went on to say.
Last month, Argentina's new leader Javier Milei revealed a series of measures to deregulate the country's struggling economy, eliminating or changing more than 300 regulations via the presidential decree, including on rent and labor practices.
Milei, a self-described anarcho-capitalist who has been in office for a month, pledged to curb inflation but warned that economic "shock" treatment is the only solution for the economy. Some of the suggested changes include the elimination of a law regulating rent and preventing the privatization of state enterprises.
