Argentine consumer prices in November surged 1.2 per cent, marking one of the highest monthly increases so far this year and fuelling concern within the government's newly appointed economic team.

Felisa Miceli, who replaced Roberto Lavagna as economy minister last Thursday, has said her priority would be to combat inflation, which now stands at 11.1 per cent so far this year.

On Tuesday, she and her team reacted to the latest data by scheduling meetings for the rest of the week with representatives of key industries in an attempt to deepen the government's strategy of introducing price freezes.

The move follows a series of initial accords with leading supermarkets in which they agreed to lower prices on a range of basic food stuffs, toiletries and clothes by 15 per cent.

On the weekend Patricia Vaca, the sub-secretary for the protection of consumers, defended Ms Miceli's strategy, saying the focus would be to "analyse the entire value chain, sector by sector".

Argentina's economy is thriving, and recent industrial production figures suggest growth this year will be 9 per cent. That would bring accumulated growth since 2003 to about 30 per cent. This year Argentina's economy surpassed the previous maximum historic level reached in 1998.

But the vigorous expansion is now being reflected in prices, and inflation has emerged as the single biggest threat to Argentina's recovery and macro-economic stability.

Determined to stop the peso from rising against the dollar and to avoid increasing interest rates, President Néstor Kirchner's administration has turned to price accords as its main weapon.

Last week's agreements with leading supermarkets will eventually cover 200 basic consumer goods, and will last until the end of January next year. This week, Ms Miceli is due to meet the Argentine Industrial Union as well as the body that represents food manufacturers. Basic foodstuff prices have risen very quickly, 3.3 per cent in November alone.

But while private-sector economists say such agreements may have some short-term impact they remain sceptical about their long-term effectiveness.

"These policies have been tried in the past but they could only work as a complement to dealing with the fundamental imbalances between supply and demand," said Miguel Kiguel, a former finance secretary who now heads Kiguel and Associates consultancy.