Argentine Government Continues To Beat Down Fuel Pump Prices

BUENOS AIRES -(Dow Jones)- Argentine fuel retailers have again pledged to drop any pump price increases following apparent government pressure in what is beginning to look like a game of price control “whack-a-mole.”

This week, for the second time in as many months, Argentine Commerce Secretary Guillermo Moreno reportedly called up executives at major fuel retailers after La Nacion newspaper reported, on Monday, that the pump prices for diesel and gasoline were creeping higher despite government attempts to hold them down.

This week’s repeat pump price story comes as government brokered price controls across the economy have lost their effectiveness in containing inflation more than a year and a half after the administration of President Nestor Kirchner first turned to them as an alternative to raising interest rates. It also comes as first lady and Sen. Cristina Kirchner enjoys a strong lead in the polls ahead of presidential elections in October, in which she will stand in place of her husband.

According to La Nacion, the average price of super unleaded gasoline nationwide crept from ARS1.91 ($0.60) per liter in January to ARS2.05 per liter this month.

In apparent response to government pressure from the news, the local units of Brazil’s state-run Petroleo Brasileiro (PBR), or Petrobras, and Spain’s Repsol- YPF (REP) quickly issued statements regarding their prices.

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