BUENOS AIRES (AP).— The government of President Javier Milei faces the resignation of the director of the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INDEC), Marco Lavagna, a few days after the entry into force of a new method to calculate the consumer price index (CPI) in Argentina.
Lavagna, economist and head of the organization since 2019, presented his unavoidable resignation on Monday, confirmed the INDEC press office, without detailing further details about the formal reasons for the decision.
“Personally, it is not a simple decision, but it is time to face new projects and challenges,” Lavagna expressed in a letter addressed to the institute’s staff, in which he highlighted the work carried out during an “intense and valuable stage.”
Indec is the public body in charge of preparing the country’s official statistics, including those that allow evaluating the performance of inflation control policies, one of the main economic concerns of Argentine society. Milei, an ultra-liberal economist who assumed the presidency in 023, came to power driven by social discontent in the face of years of high inflation and deterioration in purchasing power.
Under his management, the Executive implemented a fiscal adjustment plan that managed to slow down the pace of price increases, although with a significant impact on economic activity and consumption.
According to official data, Argentina closed 2025 with an annual inflation of 31.5%, the lowest in the last eight years, although in December the monthly variation was 2.8%, compared to the 2.5% registered in November.
Lavagna’s resignation occurs one week after the publication of the January CPI, which will be prepared with an updated methodology compared to the one in force since 2017.
The new measurement scheme gives greater weight to the items of housing, transportation and communications, to the detriment of the food component, which could modify the monthly reading of the index.
“Marco Lavagna’s resignation eight days after the departure of the IPC puts us on alert,” warned Raúl Llaneza, delegate of the ATE state workers union in INDEC, who recalled the organization’s political intervention in 2007.
For his part, the Minister of Economy, Luis Caputo, anticipated that January inflation will be 2.5%, while the government reported that Pedro Lines, current technical director of INDEC, will assume leadership of the organization.
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