IMF says ‘impressed’ by Argentina’s data reform

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Friday it was pleased with Argentina’s efforts to restore confidence in its official statistics under new President Mauricio Macri.

IMF representatives were in Argentina this week to meet with Indec statistics agency and finance ministry officials about the government’s new inflation and gross domestic product (GDP) figures, the IMF said in a statement.

Since Macri took office in December, he has overhauled Indec, which was widely accused of publishing inaccurate data under former president Cristina Fernandez.

The delegation “was impressed by the authorities’ strong commitment to improving the quality and transparency regarding official data,” said Roberto Cardarelli, mission chief.

Indec recently published its first 2016 inflation and GDP figures, which showed consumer prices jumped 4.2 percent in May and the economy grew 0.5 percent in the January through March period.

Source: Reuters