The Wall Street Journal reports,"Argentina's President Cristina Kirchner has pledged tougher measures against businesses that raise prices, as her administration tries to stabilize an economy suffering from double-digit inflation and hard currency shortages''.
"I think that among the many things that will be on the legislative agenda this year, we in the executive and the congress are going to have to approve measures that for once and for all defend consumers from abuse by powerful sectors, oligopolies and monopolies," Mrs. Kirchner said on Saturday in a televised speech in Congress.
The most recent private-sector estimates put Argentine annual inflation at around 30%.
The wave of price increases following the 15% devaluation of the peso in mid-January are unjustified and constitute the looting of Argentines' pocketbooks, Mrs. Kirchner told law makers on Saturday during the inauguration of the 2014 legislative session.
Most economists say annual inflation has been running above 20% for years due in part to the government's reliance on money printing to cover deficits. Capital flight by inflation-weary investors and debt payments have depleted the central bank's foreign currency reserves, which forced Mrs. Kirchner's administration to break a long standing promise and devalue the peso this year.
Many economists think the economy grew about 3% last year. But inflation and dollar shortages that have forced the government to cut imports are hurting growth. Most economists expect the Argentine economy to grow just 0.9% this year, according to a survey by FocusEconomics. Some are more pessimistic, with Barclays and Bank of America Merrill Lynch forecasting a recession.
In recent months, the government has grudgingly adopted more conventional economic policies like raising interest rates to head off a potential financial crisis before Mrs. Kirchner steps down in December 2015.
Still, the Kirchner administration will continue to reduce subsidies for wealthy people who don't need them, Economy Minister Axel Kicillof said last week. In a more than three hour speech, Mrs. Kirchner defended the redistributive economic policies that have characterized the combative, left wing style of populism espoused by the Kirchners.
