Argentina Inflation: Soup Kitchens Are On The Verge Of Collapse

(CTN News) – Twenty kilograms of pasta (44 pounds) were inflation enough to provide food for the dozens of families visiting the Sal de la Tierra soup kitchen in Villa Fiorito, a poor Buenos Aires suburb suffering from the economic crisis.

Monthly inflation reaching 20 percent, however, has resulted in a surge in hunger among residents. Thirty kilograms of pasta were required to prepare 30 kilograms of pasta for this week’s soup kitchen, which is supported by private contributions and volunteer labor.

In recent years, there has been a decline in the availability of resources and a rise in hunger, according to Maria Torres, a volunteer cook with the organization. As of today, there are approximately 70 families that need to be fed, an increase from a few months ago when there were only 20 families.

The people in this situation are financially strapped and, as a result, they will not be able to eat if they do not attend a soup kitchen.

An official from Argentina’s statistics agency revealed on Wednesday that annual inflation in January was 20.6 percent, down from 25.5 percent a month earlier. This was just below expectations of 257 percent and 21 percent, according to Reuters poll of analysts.

After the inauguration of libertarian President Javier Milei in December, prices had doubled month-over-month. As a result, inflation reached the highest level since the country’s hyperinflation crisis in the early 1990s as the peso was devalued, public subsidies were cut, and price controls were loosed.

Milei’s government anticipates inflation to fall gradually over the coming months, but poverty, which currently tops 40 percent, could skyrocket.

As polled by Reuters in January, economists expect inflation in Argentina to remain high throughout the first half of 2024, cooling only toward the end of the year due to a burgeoning recession.

Argentina’s economy is projected to shrink by 2.5 percent by 2024, according to the International Monetary Fund.

One of the unemployed volunteers at the soup kitchen, Mercedes Insaurralde, said she is ashamed of what they are going through. I can go hungry, but the children can’t.”

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