The BCR reports that inflation slowed from the rate of 1.17 per cent reported in August to 0.58 percent in September.
El Salvador’s inflation slowed sharply in September by closing at 0.58 per cent, the lowest rate since January 2021, the Central Reserve Bank (BCR) confirmed yesterday.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) was halved to the 1.17 % it reported in August. According to the BCR registry, it is the lowest rate since 0.31 % reported in January 2021.
After rates above 7 per cent in the mid-2022, inflation showed steady declines in 2023 and remained so until March 2024, when it was placed at 0.77 %.
However, between April and July he broke the streak with constant increases to 1.78 in July, and then went back back in August to 1.17 percent.
Does the slowdown mean that prices fall? No, economists explain that prices continue to rise, but at a slower rate. The CPI rate reported in September is below the target of the BCR, which estimates that it will close between 1 % and 1.5 % in 2024.
Lower pressure on food
The CPI is the basis of inflation, an indicator that measures the month-to-month price of a basket of 238 products and services of higher consumption of Salvadorans. In September, the Central Bank reported deflation in four of the 12 activities that make up the CPI, while in four there were increases and in the rest there were reductions.
Food and non-alcoholic beverage activity rose from inflation from 3.12 per cent in August to 1.21 per cent in September, the lowest rate since July 2021 when it was actually in deflation at -0.07 per cent.
There was also a reduction to 0.75 per cent in the activity of clothing and footwear, while in restaurants and hotels it fell to 5.35 per cent.
Increases were recorded in the division of miscellaneous goods and services to 1.14 %, health at 2.38 %, as well as in the activity of accommodation, water and electricity to 1.15 %, and alcoholic beverages and taco at 1.70 %.
Deflation is recorded in furniture and household items.
This article has been translated after first appearing in Diario El Mundo