Financial Indicators

The following are the most common financial indicators used in the media and in prices for services.

IPC (Indice de Precios al Consumidor): Known as the Consumer Price Index in English.  This indicator measures the purchasing power of the Chilean peso, based on the variations in cost of a standard bundle of goods and services.  While the IPC itself has a positive total daily value (e.g. 100,5), you will often see it expressed in terms of its accumulated variation over a prior period such as a month (e.g. -0,02) or a year (e.g. 6,3).

UF (Unidad de Fomento): The UF is a ficticious unit of currency with a value equal to a set number of pesos (e.g. 22,000) that is readjusted daily according to the IPC. Services can priced in UF, as well as savings and investment instruments, credit instruments such as mortgages, home rental prices, even school tuitions.  Salaries, on the other hand, are always set in pesos (related search).

UTM (Unidad Tributaria Mensual):  Another reajustable unit similar to the UF.  Government fees and fines are often expressed in UTM.

UTA (Unidad Tributaria Anual): The UTA is equal to 12 UTMs.

You can look up past, current and future values of these indicators on the SII (linkme) web page Valores y Fechas, or read about their history in the SII news archive.