Argentina industrial output plunges 16.8% y/y in March - stats agency

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentina's industrial output plunged 16.8% versus the same month a year earlier, the official INDEC statistics agency said on Wednesday, underscoring the impact of a nationwide coronavirus lockdown on the country's already fragile economy.

The drop was the worst monthly decline in almost two decades, according to Refinitiv Eikon data, since an over 20% fall in early 2002. The country was already mired in recession with high inflation before the pandemic.

(Reporting by Jorge Iorio; Writing by Adam Jourdan)