They warn against handling the figures of inflation in Chile

Consumer price index of Chile may have been handled in August and September of last year, reported the National Institute of Statisticss of the country.

"It is possible that this manipulation caused a difference not exceeding 0.1 percentage point during these two months.", said the director of INE, Guillermo Pattillo, at a press conference held in Santiago on Monday.

Consumer prices s0.2% in August compared to the previous month and 0.3% in September, and only two of the 16 economists in a survey on Bloomberg I have contemplated this last figure. Others they expected faster price growth. Monday's announcement was a surprise for operators and badysts. Chile is the richest country in South America and its institutions are often considered among the most stable and reliable in the region.

According to forecasts, Chilean inflation slows in April

The head of the awards department of INE's operations division has been suspended, said Pattillo without identifying the person by name. "We have informed the prosecutors and we are also conducting an internal review to find the motives and the effects of any irregularities ".

Inflation is used to calculate the unit of development, an accounting unit used in the sale of local bonds and to fix wages, mortgages, rents, derivatives and other long-term contracts.

"Because of the level of indexation of the economy, everything depends on this number", Explain Felipe Alarcón, Economist of Euroamerica. "It's a big mistake. Fixed income, salary adjustments, actual government spending, no matter"

The reliability of the INE had already been questioned last year due to its unemployment figures. "A positive aspect of the latest controversy is that it could accelerate the reform of the INE", badured Alarcón.