The International Monetary Fund said it was pleased with Argentina’s efforts to restore confidence in its official statistics under new President Mauricio Macri, Reuters reported. IMF representatives were in Argentina this week to meet with Indec statistics agency and finance ministry officials about the government’s new inflation and gross domestic product figures, the IMF said in a statement. Since Macri took office in December, he has overhauled Indec, which was widely accused of publishing inaccurate data under former president Cristina Fernandez. The delegation “was impressed by the authorities’ strong commitment to improving the quality and transparency regarding official data,” said Roberto Cardarelli, mission chief. Indec recently published its first 2016 inflation and GDP figures, which showed consumer prices jumped 4.2% in May and the economy grew 0.5% in the January through March period. Latin America’s third largest economy was helped by 7.5% growth in its fishing sector and 4.2% expansion in transport. Construction and agriculture, crucial because the country is a grains-exporting powerhouse, both fell by more than 5%, Indec said.
