To curb soaring inflation, on 17 April, the Government fixed the price of 60 food products, including staples such as rice, flour, sugar, milk, cooking oils, meat and Yerba mate for a six-month period. The newly established prices were set at comparable levels to the prevailing market prices, while the Ministry of Internal Trade will monitor retailers’ compliance to the recently introduced policy. In addition, the Government froze tariffs for electricity, gas and public transport until the end of 2019. These interventions aim to curb annual inflation that reached a rate of 54.7 percent in March, with food and non-alcoholic beverages contributing the most, followed by transport, housing and utilities. Reflecting the upsurge in inflation, retail prices of rice and wheat flour in March were, respectively, more than 70 and 160 percent higher than their year-earlier levels. These measures are in line with the Government’s efforts to curb inflation, including the Central Bank’s new measures to support the country’s currency, which averaged a record low of ARS 41.36 per US dollar in March 2019.