The memes that broke out on social networks due to the rise of naphthas

As with any event that generates public interest, be it a sporting result, a relevant event or any decision that impacts people's daily lives, memes were the order of the day after the announcement of a sharp increase in the price of gasoline and fuel announced surprisingly at midnight on Sunday.

With the typical creativity that emerges spontaneously, social media users in Argentina multiplied graphic and audiovisual creations to humorously refer to the announcement made by YPF - which was later followed by other companies such as Shell and Axion - of raising the average price of their fuels by 9.5% basic and an average of 11.5 per cent for those in the premium category.

According to the state-owned company, the adjustment was decided on the basis of the evolution of the main variables that make up the retail price, especially the increase in international oil costs and demand levels above the pre-pandemic, which require imports to complement local supply . The impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine - which triggered the international value of crude oil - was decisive for the change in suppliers.

In this regard, the firm noted that oil has suffered significant increases in recent weeks, reaching record levels (50% above the values at the beginning of February 2022).

In addition, YPF highlighted that the international price of fuels that complement local supply increased even above crude oil. Therefore, they said that they will continue to monitor the evolution of the variables that affect price formation, “taking into account the particularities of the country's macroeconomic context and the international reality”.

The last increase announced by the company had been 9% and began to take effect at the beginning of last February, also in the context of a steady increase in global energy costs.

In March 2021, YPF had reported that during that year a phased adjustment of 15% would be applied over three months to finance investments. The first average 7% increase was applied on March 16 and then there was a second increase of 6% in April. The increases were differentiated: higher in the city of Buenos Aires and lower in the interior.

In recent weeks, international energy prices soared as a result of the war unleashed following Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine and the sanctions imposed on Russia, one of the world's leading oil and gas producers. The barrel of Brent oil, which is used as a reference for Argentina, hit USD 130 this week and on Wednesday its price closed close to USD 111.

On the other hand, this Tuesday it became known that inflation accelerated again in February and reached 4.7%. In this way, it accumulated a 52.3% variation in the last twelve months, as reported on Tuesday by Indec. The first two months of the year began this way with high price indexes, since in January the CPI had reached 3.9%, which is beginning to cast doubt on the feasibility of the official projection agreed by the Government and the IMF, which has a ceiling of 48% by 2022.

In this way, the price increase in the second month of the year was above what private consultants expected, which projected by 4 percent. Food once again played a significant role in February's inflation, as it increased by 7.5 percent. In this regard, the Government is analyzing measures such as an increase in withholding of some agricultural products in order to seek to “decouple” the domestic price from the shock of international food values caused by the war in Ukraine.

According to the diagnosis of the Ministry of Economy, prices showed an immediate impact of the war conflict in eastern Europe. “The indicator was affected by the impact of the rise in international prices of major commodities, due to the drought and conflict in Ukraine,” said the Treasury Palace. The Russian invasion, however, began on February 24, just four days before the end of the reference month for the last CPI.

“Fruits and Vegetables recorded double-digit increases in almost all regions. The items most affected were dairy products - with increases of between 6.0% and 8.0% depending on the region, Bread and cereals with increases between 3.7% and 5.8% per month and Meat and derivatives, with increases of around 5.0% per month,” analyzed the Ministry of Economy.

Transport was another item with increases above average (4.9%). Below were: Household equipment (4.4%), miscellaneous goods and services together with Restaurants and hotels (4.3% each), Health (3.6%), Clothing and footwear (3.4%), Housing, water, electricity and gas (2.8%), Alcoholic beverages and tobacco (2.7%), Education (2.6%), Recreation and culture (2.3%) and communication (1.5%).

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