Government pours nearly $ 40 billion into electoral consumption

The government is expected to announce Wednesday the package of measures to boost purchasing power, following the publication of a new 4% inflation rate in March. can finish selling about 40 billion dollars to the consumer.

Part of this figure had already been launched with the AUH increases – it is expected to increase by 46% per year until March – which, added to Mobility's first installment for retirement (11%), guarantees more $ 20 billion. In the case of retirements, however, the first rise only compensates for what was lost last year.

The novelty is the revival of ANSES credits. "We are going to put a lot of money in the street," said Emilio Basavilbaso, head of ANSES, in a dialogue with PROFILE Today, the level of credits (the ex-Argenta) represents 4% of the agency's Sustainability Guarantee Fund (FGS) and raises it to around 3 billion dollars , according to data as of March 11.

In all, Anses is authorized to lend up to 20% of the funds. That would be about $ 12 billion more than the current level, so the volume of loans would approach the peak reached in 2017, when they were also an essential tool to improve the pocket during the legislative elections. In August of the same year, it peaked at 900,000 credits granted for some $ 15 billion. The announcement that was to be made on Tuesday 9 but was postponed to this week includes, in the meantime, an extension of credit limits – now at $ 80,000 maximum for pensions and $ 6,500 for the AUH-.

In an election year, ANSES credits are relaunched: "We will put a lot of money in the street"

In total, plus the closing of the first parity, economists believe that consumption will be down this 2019. Until now, the numbers show a minimum hard to overcome. The latest report from the consulting firm Scentia indicates that sales in supermarkets and supermarkets closed the first quarter of the year with a volume contraction of -8.7% compared to March 2018. Since the beginning of this year they recorded a decrease of 7.3%.

Prices, meanwhile, accumulate an increase of 51.8% to March. That is why one of the focal points of the government will be the new preferential price basket, a price supplement carried over into 12 categories to cover the most essential goods and with the idea of ​​keeping the same price for six months.

Up & # 39; here, the package, has no tax cost. On the one hand, loan financing comes from ANSES and the increases for AUH and retirees were provided for in the budget and the social spending clause of the agreement with the IMF, which had been extended 0.3% of GDP in the last budget evaluation. agreement.

Added to this is the premium agreed with the Union of Civilian Personnel of the Nation (UPCN), which also closed a 3% increase in partial compensation for the loss of purchasing power last year. According to government sources, this agreement represents a cost to the state of an additional $ 3 billion, that the executive expects to turn to consumption.

Prices accumulate up 51.8% in March

Payment plans. Apart from the increases in the pocket, the study measures that could be announced include special reductions on corralones – to support private construction – as well as on household parts, drugs, appliances and appliances. gas appliances with better energy efficiency. In the latter case, they will be presented as an incentive to reduce the amount of electricity and gas bills in the context of rate increases. In this context, the agreement with the IMF and the recommendations of the latest revision are clear: the government must continue to reduce energy subsidies.

Other possible measures are new payment plans of the Federal Administration of Public Revenuealthough it would not be a moratorium with debt forgiveness.

In addition to reductions, the government study a revival of now 12 and now 18, plans to buy in several times. The Ministry of Production has resurrected last month for "return to school", in the edition of 12 interest – free payments, and could announce it for d & # 39; other segments.

In the same line, the official banks will come back to the charge with discounts, with Banco Provincia in the lead in the middle of a series of announcements that Maria Eugenia Vidal will also implement, published yesterday PROFILE.

Funes of Rioja: "It's voluntary"

Faced with the presentation of a new basket of products, Daniel Funes from Rioja, the holder of Copal, the food industry coordinator, warned that "it's not a freeze, it's a voluntary agreement. The other part is adopting parallel measures to address inflation, which is linked to other problems. "

"Companies always define products. The government is talking with the companies, not with the cameras, "said Funes de Rioja.The government's strategy was that the negotiations under the Secretary of Commerce, Ignacio Werner, would have been held one by one.

According to the vice president of the Industrial Union, which met Thursday Dante Sica on the occasion of the centennial celebration of the ILO, inflation is linked to rising costs, salary and non-salary costs, logistics, financing costs, among others.

Sica fits this agenda, although its limited room for maneuver by the Treasury and the agreement with the Fund triggered this week versions of resignation, which the official denied.

"If it has to call it price-conscious or not, I do not know it," he said about the price list in 12 categories and about forty products that the executive negotiates to announce Wednesday. "We are waiting for what are the other measures. We proposed measures to advance tax reform and lightening business activity"Added Rioja Funes.