Argentina's newly revamped official statistics agency said Wednesday that inflation rose 4.2 percent in May from the previous month, according to AP. The first inflation figures released since President Mauricio Macri took office in December showed that the numbers continue to rise despite his promises to tame skyrocketing consumer prices. Macri's government revamped the questioned national statistics agency in an effort to encourage foreign investment and regain lost credibility in South America's second-largest economy. The agency has launched a new index, using data as the previous one did from consumer prices in metropolitan Buenos Aires area. "Resuming the publication of a key macro statistic is a very welcome development," said Goldman Sachs analyst Alberto Ramos. "But the new figure also shows that inflationary pressures are still very high." Consumer prices in Argentina have soared even more since Macri's government recently eliminated utility subsidies leading to sharp increases in everything from bus rides to light bills. Argentines have protested Macri's unpopular decisions to eliminate subsidies and cut thousands of state jobs, while still failing to curb one of the world's highest inflation rates. Argentina's inflation numbers have been in doubt since 2007, when President Cristina Fernandez's late husband and predecessor, Nestor Kirchner, had political appointees change the agency's methodology. Since then, analysts say that official inflation has been grossly underreported. Eventually, even government allies publicly discredited the official inflation data and the International Monetary Fund refused to use Argentina's numbers in global reports. "It's vital to finally be able to determine the real growth of our economy," said Buenos Aires-based economist, Enrique Dentice. "Returning to serious statistics is a necessity."
