Argentine grocers agree to cut some food prices

BUENOS AIRES, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Argentina's leading supermarkets agreed on Wednesday to lower prices by 5 percent on some basic foodstuffs in the latest price accord unveiled by the government in its campaign to tame inflation.

The agreement comes as shopkeepers and consumers boycotted tomatoes in recent days on complaints of soaring prices, and as inflation has emerged as a central issue in Argentina's presidential campaign.

President Nestor Kirchner praised supermarket executives for agreeing to the move, but also urged Argentines to boycott products that jump in price.

"Don't buy from those people who for seasonal reasons are trying to rob us," he said.

"There are sectors ... that want to increase earnings without increasing their production," Kirchner added.

The agreement includes the country's leading grocers -- Coto, Carrefour (CARR.PA), Chilean-owned Cencosud CEN.SN and Wal-Mart (WMT.N) among others. It wasn't immediately clear what products fell under the agreement.

Tomato prices have grabbed headlines recently and prompted a group of Chinese shopkeepers who run about 600 small supermarkets to stop stocking tomatoes.

Argentina's consumer price index rose 5.8 percent between January and September, but tomato prices last month soared nearly 50 percent, according to official data.

The government first introduced the price accords in 2005 to combat inflation, which rose to 12.3 percent that year.

Opposition leaders have repeatedly criticized Kirchner for his government's handling of official inflation data in an election year, saying figures released by the INDEC national statistics agency are about half the actual inflation rate.

Government officials dismiss the charges.

Kirchner's wife, first lady and senator Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, who is running for president, holds a commanding lead in the Oct. 28 election.

The government expects consumer prices to rise less than 10 percent in 2007, but critics say inflation could be as much twice the official rate.