Argentine private consultants rejected the inflation rate of 7.2 percent released by the government for 2008, saying the real situation could be worse than that, local press said on Wednesday.

The National Institute of Statistics and Census (Indec), the government agency that analyses economic and social indicators, said Argentina registered an inflation rate of 7.2 percent in 2008, the lowest level in the last four years.

However, according to private consultant company Ecolatina, created by Argentine former Economy Minister Roberto Lavagna, the gap between the official figure and the real inflation rate was "of 36.6 percent in the last two years."

Ecolatina's director Rodrigo Alvarez said Wednesday the inflation rate was actually up to between 17 percent and 23 percent in 2008 due to a 23.3-percent hike in food prices last year. Last March, the food prices in Argentina saw a jump of 40 percent.

Other private researches said the hike in food price in 2008 was between 24 and 30 percent.

By official count, the hike in food prices reached 5.6 percent in 2008, and education of 16.5 percent and health of 10.5 percent respectively. Meanwhile, the prices of meat, oil and vegetables lowered 3.8 percent, 21.3 percent and 9.5 percent, respectively.

(Xinhua News Agency January 15, 2009)