BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Argentina’s economic activity fell 0.7% in October compared with the same month a year earlier, the fifth consecutive month the economy has contracted in year-on-year terms, the official statistics agency said on Friday.
Analysts had forecast a 2.2% contraction.
The grains-rich country’s economic activity increased 0.6% versus a month earlier, after falling the previous month.
The country is trying to improve its battered economy, but tough austerity measures by libertarian President Javier Milei, which have helped lower inflation and stabilize state finances, have also taken a toll on many sectors of the economy.
Fishing posted the steepest year-on-year decline in October, contracting 50%, followed by the construction sector that fell 14.5%.
Only six sectors registered growth in October, according to data from the statistics agency INDEC, headed by mining which was up 7.4%, and agriculture and livestock, which grew 2.3%.
Argentina’s economy notched its first quarter-on-quarter economic expansion since entering a technical recession at the end of 2023 in the July to September period, according to official data released Monday, but contracted yet again in yearly terms.
(Reporting by Aida Pelaez-Fernandez and Walter Bianchi; Editing by Anthony Esposito and Chizu Nomiyama)
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