(Adds background on Argentina economic policy, regional comparisons, details from report)
BUENOS AIRES, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Consumer prices in Argentina rose 24.8 percent in 2017 after a sharp 3.1 percent increase in December, government data showed on Thursday, well above the central bank's target range for annual inflation of 12-17 percent.
The monthly reading, which was above median expectations in a Reuters poll for inflation in December of 2.5 percent.
The government in late December relaxed its 2018 inflation target to 15 percent, up from the central bank's previous 8-12 percent goal. The central bank cut interest rates earlier this week after relaxing the inflation target.Business-friendly President Mauricio Macri has struggled to contain inflation since taking office in late 2015. While inflation fell in 2017 from 40 percent in 2016, December's rate alone was higher than the rates for all of 2017 for neighboring Chile and Brazil, of 2.3 percent and 2.95 percent, respectively.Hikes in prices for utilities, gasoline and transportation as the government cuts subsidies to reduce its wide fiscal deficit have contributed to inflation's persistence. In December, regulated prices surged 9.1 percent compared with the prior month, while core inflation - which excludes regulated and seasonal prices - was 1.7 percent.
In greater Buenos Aires, which had been used as a proxy for the country's inflation before the Indec statistics agency launched a nationwide index last year, consumer prices rose 3.4 percent in December, the biggest increase this year.
(Reporting by Luc Cohen; Editing by Leslie Adler)
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