The percentage of people living below the poverty line in Argentina has risen to 40.1 per cent, official statistics said.
According to the figures, released by the national statistics agency Indec, the percentage of the population living in poverty increased by 0.9 per cent in the first half of 2023 compared to the second half of 2022.
In Argentina, a person is considered poor if they live in a household whose income is not sufficient to afford basic supplies.
The figures were released just over three weeks before Argentina’s presidential election.
South America’s second-largest economy is in the midst of a severe financial and economic crisis.
The inflation rate is 124 per cent, according to the latest official figures.
The national currency, the peso, is in free fall and the mountain of debt is piling up.
On October 22, Argentines would elect a successor to leftist Prime Minister Alberto Fernández.
The libertarian populist Javier Milei emerged victorious from the primaries while the Peronist government camp would be represented by Economy Minister Sergio Massa.
