Economy Minister Sergio Massa outlined four lines of work and also ratified that he will meet the 2.5% fiscal deficit goal agreed with the IMF, the main source of uncertainty about the program’s viability. The details of the measures are as follows:
FISCAL MEASURES
* The goal of 2.5% of GDP deficit established by the budget and agreed with the IMF will be met.
* Treasury Advances will not be used for the remainder of the year, which implies that the State deficit will not be financed with monetary issuance.
* Entry into the State plant is frozen for all sectors of the centralized national public administration.
* Four million Argentine households gave up using the subsidies. For the 10 million households that asked to maintain them in the case of energy, a limit of 400 kW will be established. Up to that level, the aid will be maintained and then the full rate will apply. As explained by the minister, with this limit, 80% of users and 50% of the total residential demand are served. A similar criterion will be used in the case of gas, considering seasonality. In the case of water, the segmentation process will begin in September.
* A voluntary swap is underway for maturities in pesos in the next 90 days. It ends on Tuesday and Massa assured that a 60% adhesion has been agreed.
FOREIGN TRADE
* By Decree of Necessity and Urgency there will be special regimes for exports for the sectors of agribusiness, mining, hydrocarbons due to increased production, and the knowledge economy. It will be an incentive scheme similar to the one offered to the field.
* When triangulations and maneuvers of underinvoicing of exports and overinvoicing of imports are detected, a registry will be opened for 60 days so that some 722 companies with operations for $13 billion correct their situation. They will then be denounced in the Argentine justice system and before the Anti-Money Laundering Unit of the United States.
* A credit program at promotional rates and a guarantee scheme for first-time exporters will be launched.
* A foreign trade traceability system will be implemented for greater control and transparency in the use of foreign currency for imports.
CENTRAL BANK RESERVES
* He announced that a commitment was reached with value chains of fishing, agriculture, mining and other sectors, which will enter US$ 5,000 million in the next 60 days.
* He promised a disbursement of US$ 1.2 billion from international organizations for current programs. And a new program with CAF for US$750 million.
* Four Repo offers are being studied to strengthen reserves and repurchase sovereign debt. They come from three international financial institutions and a sovereign wealth fund.
* A meeting was held with the IMF to continue with the planned disbursements.
INCOME
* On August 10, the increase for retirees from Retirement Mobility and a reinforcement to cushion the effects of inflation will be announced.
* On Thursday of next week, business entities and workers will be convened to establish a mechanism that allows workers in the private sector to recover income, which includes the improvement of family allowances.
* Regarding the social plans, a reorganization policy will be implemented during the next 12 months. It will be promoted that a beneficiary of the Emphasize Work plan be hired by a private company. The plan contemplates that the beneficiary maintains the social plan for one year. His salary will be made up of a part from the plan and the difference up to the agreement salary will be borne by the employer, who will also pay social charges and social work. After a year, the worker will decide if he wants to keep the plan or the job.
* On August 15, an audit will begin to be carried out by the universities on the plans
* The credit programs will be unified into a single line, which will be called “Argentine Credit”, and which will concentrate all credit promotion policies for the productive sectors, SMEs and commerce, a program for a total of $400 billion.
ADDITIONAL MEASURES
* The second section of the Néstor Kirchner gas pipeline will be tendered
* A program will be launched to train 70,000 new programmers in the next 12 months.
* Request to the National Congress for a rapid treatment of the laws that benefit Construction, Bio/Nanotechnology, agribusiness and the automotive industry in tax terms.
* Convocation to the Liaison Table to establish a dialogue to speed up the liquidation of cereals still in the power of the producers.
With great commitment and responsibility, together with the economic and productive team that I have convened, we began this stage at the head of the Ministry of @Economia_AR.
We have an enormous challenge ahead of us, but also an enormous opportunity to transform the reality in which we live. pic.twitter.com/Q2XJhegf8l– Sergio Massa (@SergioMassa) August 4, 2022
Source: NA