(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - The inflation data released by Argentina’s Statistics Agency (INDEC) has little credibility in the South American country, according to a poll by Ibarómetro. 70.7 per cent of respondents think the data released by the government agency is not believable.

In October 2007, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner won the presidential election with 44.9 per cent of the vote as the candidate for the Front for Victory (FV). In December, Mrs. Kirchner succeeded her husband, Néstor Kirchner, as Argentina’s head of state. The outgoing president was praised for fostering an economic recovery after a major crisis in 2002. Fernández de Kirchner has vowed to address poverty and carry on with her husband’s fiscal policies.

In January 2007, Néstor Kirchner replaced Graciela Bevacqua—the official in charge of calculating inflation—which led to allegations of manipulation. Argentina’s official inflation numbers have been questioned ever since by retailers, bankers, investors and politicians alike.

In July, Fernández de Kirchner named Sergio Massa as her new cabinet chief of staff. Massa vowed to restore INDEC’s standing, saying, "We must inject credibility to INDEC. (...) You can’t have statistics which only generate mistrust in society."

Polling Data

Do you think the inflation statistics reported by the Statistics Agency (INDEC) are believable or not believable?

Source: Ibarómetro
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 700 Argentinean adults in Buenos Aires, conducted on Aug. 19, 2008. Margin of error is 3.7 per cent.

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