March 1st saw scheduled price increases across the board, contributing to the general inflation rate that already reached 6% in January. 

These rises in key areas like transportation, fuels and utilities are expected to take a toll on March’s inflation figure, hindering Economy Minister Sergio Massa’s goal to reach a monthly rate lower than 4% in April. In the last six months, monthly price rises averaged 6%, according to INDEC.

Meanwhile, the Economy Ministry is including more items in the Fair Prices program, a price cap agreed upon with companies from different economic areas. On Tuesday, Commerce Secretary Matías Tombolini announced a price freeze of six fruits and vegetables. These prices, however, will only be available in some supermarkets in the Greater Buenos Aires area until March 31.

Subway and tram

At the beginning of the year, the Buenos Aires City government announced the subway fare would cost AR$58 in March. Rises will continue over the year, increasing to AR$67 in May, AR$74 in June, and AR$80 in September. The premetro tram, on the other hand, will cost AR$20 in March and will raise to AR$28 in September.

Bus and trains

The Transportation Ministry enforced a 6% increase in bus and train fares in the Greater Buenos Aires Area. With the price update, bus fares will have an initial value of AR$37.10 for trips up to 3 kilometers; AR$41.34 pesos for distances between 3 and 6 kilometers; AR$44.52 for trips between 6 and 12 kilometers; AR$47.70 for trips between 12 and 27 kilometers; and AR$50.88 if the distance exceeds 27 kilometers.

In the case of trains, the minimum fare will be $18.02 for the Roca, Belgrano Sur, Belgrano Norte and Urquiza lines; and $23.32 for the Sarmiento, Mitre and San Martín lines.

Private schools

At the beginning of February, the Economy Ministry agreed to allow private schools to enter the Fair Prices program. Monthly fees will increase up to 16.38% in March and, in the following months, they will have a 3.5% cap until June 30.

Fuels

After they entered the Fair Prices program, oil companies will have a 3.8% cap for their price rise, 0.2% less than in the previous months.

Rents

From March 1st, new rent increases will be in effect for the contracts to be renewed this month/year. The updating mechanism for rents is regulated by the Rental Law, which establishes that the increase will be made according to an average of the annual variation of inflation, published by National Institute for Statistics and Census (INDEC), and the salary level of low-income workers. For March, that means a 89.6% increase since last year —  tenants that were paying AR$50,000 a month willpay AR$94,780.

Private healthcare

Private healthcare will see a 7.66% increase this month for those whose net income is equal to or higher than $392,562. People with salaries below that amount will see a 5.04% surge in their bills. That’s a 24.5% rise for the first three months of the year for those who do not qualify for the cap, and by 17.8% for those who do.

Utilities: gas and water

The Energy Secretariat said users will have a single 28.3% update in 2023 which will be applied in March. This percentage does not take into account transportation and distribution services which impact the final price of the bill and are expected to see price increases as well — an estimated 50% total increase for middle-income users.