In March, inflation stood at 3.21% (graph A) and the average of core inflation indicators is 2.82%. These figures are lower than was expected a quarter ago and close to the 3.0% inflation target. The lower actual inflation versus the forecast is explained mainly by tradables (0.9%) and non-tradables excluding food and regulated items (3.29%). Factors such as the scarce passthrough of the depreciation of the peso to domestic prices, the indexation of some prices to inflation last December (3.18%), and the spare capacity of the economy explain much of this behavior. Similar to the expectations, the food CPI (3.26%) continued to accelerate, especially due to the group of perishable goods. On the contrary, regulated items (6.42%) increased more than had been projected due to the increase in the rates for public utilities
