Argentina Inflation Topped Estimates Ahead of Iran War Shock

Argentina’s monthly and annual inflation readings both came in higher than expected in February before the war in Iran put upward pressure on oil prices.

Consumer prices rose 2.9% last month compared with January, above the 2.8% median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg and unchanged from January’s 2.9% print. From a year ago, inflation accelerated to 33.1% from 32.4% and above the 32.9% median estimate, according to data published Thursday by the statistics agency Indec.