In more good news for Argentina President Mauricio Macri, the Latin American country ran a surplus of 499 million pesos or $11.16 million in April this year. Earlier the Argentina government had reported that inflation in April had decelerated to 3.4 percent from a month earlier.
In April last year, Argentina ran a deficit of 10.43 billion pesos compared to the half a billion pesos surplus in April this year. The country posted a primary fiscal deficit in March but had a quarterly surplus of 10.35 billion pesos in Q1 2019. The quarterly surplus was equal to 0.1 percent of the Latin American country’s GDP.
The surplus and the deceleration of the inflation comes as a welcome relief for President Mauricio Macri as he tries to rein in high inflation. The inflationary pressure in the January to March quarter hit savings and hurt Macri’s ratings in the opinion polls. Argentina is set to go to the polls in October when people have a choice to make between market reforms and populism.
The deceleration in inflation and the surplus achieved in April are expected to improve Macri’s chances at the hustings. A victory for Macri could push the case for more structural reforms that can boost the Argentina economy in the long run.
Argentina’s central bank governor Guido Sandleris said at a news conference on Wednesday that high inflation was a challenge. The bank is working to reduce inflation with several measures including a strict monetary policy, he added.