Argentina president urges beef boycott over prices

BUENOS AIRES – Argentina’s President Nestor Kirchner on Tuesday resorted to an old trick in his battle against inflation, calling on consumers to stop buying beef, a dietary staple, if prices do not fall.

Kirchner ordered a 180-day suspension of most beef exports last Wednesday to tamp down a rise in domestic beef prices that officials say is fuelling double-digit inflation – the government’s biggest headache. Live cattle prices fell sharply in Argentina markets as a result, but shoppers have seen little change in beef prices on supermarket shelves.”If the price of beef doesn’t fall, don’t buy it,” Kirchner said in a televised speech from the presidential palace.”Let’s make them feel the consumer power of Argentines.Argentines are not dumb …Let’s not let them sell at the prices that they want,” he added.In March 2005, Kirchner urged Argentines to boycott oil major Shell after the company raised fuel prices.The company, hurting from lower sales after the public chastising from the president, lowered its prices as a result.Beef is a central part of the diet in Argentina where per capita consumption is 65 kilos per year, one of the world’s highest.- Nampa-ReutersLive cattle prices fell sharply in Argentina markets as a result, but shoppers have seen little change in beef prices on supermarket shelves.”If the price of beef doesn’t fall, don’t buy it,” Kirchner said in a televised speech from the presidential palace.”Let’s make them feel the consumer power of Argentines.Argentines are not dumb …Let’s not let them sell at the prices that they want,” he added.In March 2005, Kirchner urged Argentines to boycott oil major Shell after the company raised fuel prices.The company, hurting from lower sales after the public chastising from the president, lowered its prices as a result.Beef is a central part of the diet in Argentina where per capita consumption is 65 kilos per year, one of the world’s highest.- Nampa-Reuters