Yearly inflation in Argentina ticked down to 276.4% in May, figures released on Thursday afternoon by the government’s INDEC statistics bureau showed. The figure represented the first time since Milei took office that year-on-year inflation has fallen. 

Meanwhile, the monthly figure cooled to 4.2%, the lowest since January 2022 and the fifth decrease in a row.

Inflation figures for April were running at 289.4% and 8.8%, respectively.

Cumulative inflation in the first five months of the year reached 71.9%.

A glimpse of the likely cooling came last week, when the Buenos Aires City statistics bureau calculated that prices had risen by 4.4% in the capital in May.

The biggest monthly increase was communications, whose 8.2% surge was driven by rises in telephone and internet services. It was followed by education, with a 7.6% increase due to rising fees for all educational levels, and then alcoholic beverages and tobacco (+6.7%) due to a price rise in cigarettes.

“With May’s figure, the ongoing disinflation process has deepened,” a press release by the Economy Ministry said. The communiqué added that the monthly inflation rate was below the Central Bank’s market expectations survey.