BUENOS AIRES (Bloomberg) -- Argentina cut 16 billion dollars off its inflation-linked debt by underreporting its consumer price index during the past two years, Clarin said.

The government reported retail prices rose 16.3 percent during the past two years, while provincial statistics agencies estimated that prices rose 50 percent, the Buenos Aires-based newspaper said.
The total value of the government’s inflation-linked debt would be 57 billion dollars if based on federal statistics and 73 billion dollars if based on the provincial data.