El Salvador’s General Consumer Price Index (CPI) stood at 7 percent year-on-year in January, a drop of three tenths from the previous month, when a year-on-year rate of 7.3 percent was recorded, according to the National Statistics and Census Office (ONEC).
Thus, the year-on-year figure is the lowest since last April 2022, when it stood at 6.9 percent. During the past year, prices in the Central American country climbed to a peak of 7.8 percent in June. Currently, inflation has accumulated five months of downward trend, since last August, when it stood at 7.7 percent.
In monthly terms, prices increased by 0.34 percent, an increase of 0.23 percentage points compared to December’s monthly rate. However, this rise is well below those recorded in October and November, of 0.71 percent and 0.69 percent, respectively.
By divisions, alcoholic beverages and tobacco and food and non-alcoholic beverages experienced the largest increases, of 1.36 percent and 1.04 percent, respectively. Accommodation, water, electricity & gas and other fuels and recreation & culture were the only two divisions of the total 12 that make up the index that performed negatively (0.44 percent and 0.04 percent, respectively).
This same Thursday, in a television interview, the Salvadoran Minister of Economy, María Luisa Hayem, highlighted the country’s inflation figure which, despite still being high, is one of the lowest in Latin America and the lowest in Central America.
«El Salvador’s economy starts 2023 on a positive starting point thanks to the measures to contain inflation implemented by this government,» she said.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
