Annualized May Food Inflation: 47.6%
INE’s May inflation report is out now. The headline number, 2.6% is a lot better than April’s, but still high: on an annualized basis, it’s still-climbing, and now over 30%.
More politically sensitive than the headline number is the food category, which INE has on 3.3%, or a staggering 47.6% on an annualized basis. Is that quite right? According to the CTV associated think tank CENDAS, food inflation in May was 4.5%. That’s an annualized rate of 70%.
CENDAS’s food inflation index is a lot more transparent than INE’s and the two often differ. In April, INE had food inflation at over 11%, Cendas at just below 6%.
Anyway you slice it, though, these inflation figures are quickly overwhelming the purchasing power gains made during the oil boom. People are getting worse off fast. And people hate getting worse off fast.
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