Marco Lavagna resigned from the leadership of Indec

The economist Marco Lavagna This Monday he presented his resignation from the leadership of the Indecas announced by sources from the statistical agency.

The resignation of the technical official comes shortly after the launch of a new basket for measuring the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which began to be applied this month and will begin to be reflected when the January number is known.

“Marco Lavagna presented his resignation to Indec today and communicated it within the Institute,” said spokespersons for the organization.

Lavagna held the position of director of the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (Indec) since December 2019, with the beginning of the presidency of Alberto Fernandez. Before, he had been a legislator for UNA and, later, for the Frente Renovador, the space of Sergio Massa. His technical profile allowed him to continue in charge despite the assumption of Javier Milei and the political turn that it implied.

Lavagna’s departure follows those of other officials, in a context of frozen salaries in the public administration. In August 2025, Georgina Giglio resigned as director of Consumer Price Indices (CPI) of INDEC in Argentina, being replaced by Josefina Rim starting September 1 of that year. At the same time, he also resigned Guillermo Manzanodirector of Living Conditions Statistics, responsible for the Permanent Household Survey (EPH).

The number 2 of the organization, Pedro Ignacio Linesis the one who remains in charge at least temporarily as a result of the resignation.

Through a letter to employees, Lavagna made known more details of his resignation. In his message, he highlighted the achievements made during his mandate: “There were 6 years of hard work and enormous challenges, in which we managed to make progress in improving public statistics and the national statistical system.”

The former director pointed out that the economic and social reality demands that the national statistical system “continue to adapt and strengthen,” and valued the team’s commitment: “They are the main asset of the organization and the basis for public statistics to continue to be technical, reliable and transparent.” Furthermore, he expressed his confidence in the future of Indec and in the possibility that “the regulatory framework that helps with this can soon be updated.”

“Personally it is not an easy decision, but It’s time to face new projects and challengeswith the peace of mind of having shared with you an intense and valuable stage,” said Lavagna.

Lavagna concluded his farewell by thanking the employees for their daily work and stated: “A big hug, I will miss you and INDEC will always be able to count on everything within my reach to defend it.”

Lavagna did not disclose the reasons for his resignation, although union sources from the statistical body associated it with the salary freeze. The delay in salaries in the national administration deepened the unrest among officials at different levels, who point out that the lack of salary updates since the beginning of the administration makes it difficult to retain technical and professional staff. Complaints have multiplied in recent months, with stories about the impossibility of sustaining exclusive dedication to the public sector in the face of salaries that lagged behind those of the private sector and other branches of the State. The situation led to a succession of resignations and internal complaints that warn of the loss of experience and capacity in key areas of the Government.

In recent months, Lavagna and Indec have been dedicated to updating the basket with which the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is measured, the inflation figure. The changes in the basket sought to get closer to the consumption of current Argentine families in such a way as to better reflect the impact of price movements on household accounts.

The substantial change in the CPI lies in the fact that the consumption basket that emerges from the National Household Expenditure Survey (ENGHo) of 2017-2018 will begin to be used to replace the 2004 survey. The lack of updating of the basket with which the advance of prices is measured led to underestimating the impact of many consumptions that grew in recent decades, such as the greater relevance that internet and cellular services gained.

The most drastic changes are in the areas Housing, Water, Electricity and other fuelswhere the weighting (that is, the weight of that chapter in the total basket) goes from 9.4% to 14.5%, which leads to public service rates having a greater impact. Thus, with the new formula, each increase in the electricity or gas rate table will have a direct impact on the general level higher than that evident with the previous basket.

In Transport Another substantial change will be noted, since the weighting will go from 11% to 14.3 percent. Here fuel and passenger tickets will have greater weight. Also in Communications (from 2.8% to 5.1%), where the weight of internet and cell phones will double, and Education (from 2.3% to 3.1%) with greater relevance of educational fees and services.

Other items such as Health (from 8.0% to 9.1%) will remain stable with respect to the impact they have on inflation. Regarding those who reduce their weight, figure Food and Drinks (from 26.9% to 22.7%), since the agriculture and food industry are reduced. This segment was the main reason for the acceleration in the last quarter of 2025.

It should be noted that the new basket captures food consumption with a greater incidence of processed foods, where the industrial, logistics and marketing component (with associated services) has more weight than the primary input.

The same will happen with Clothing and Footwear (from 9% to 6.8%) which will have a loss of relative relevance in total spending; and Recreation and Culture (from 7.3% to 8.6%) where leisure spending is adjusted.

In general terms, analysts suggest that If Services rise above Goods, the new methodology will show higher inflation than the previous basket would have measured.. On the contrary, if Goods rises above Services, the updated method could show more moderate inflationary dynamics. By way of illustration, in a scenario where the price of meat increased by 10% in Jan/26, the old CPI would rise 1.07 points just for that item; with the new one, it would rise 1.03.