Buenos Aires (EFE) in the exchange market, as well as initiatives to sustain consumption and the level of activity.
The Ministry of Economy released a list with a series of measures that the head of the Portfolio, Sergio Massa, finalized on Saturday with his team -one day after the latest inflation data was released, which exceeded the worst forecasts made by the Central Bank – and that, as confirmed to Efe by sources from the Portfolio, will be made official on Monday through a resolution.
The plan includes adjusting the reference interest rate -according to reports, it will be located at 97%, just two weeks after having raised it from 81 to 91%-. The Central Bank will increase intervention in the exchange market and will seek to speed up the agreements with the International Monetary Fund. As well as the currency swap with China and the talks with the BRICS bloc.
Inflation in Argentina of 8.4%
To face the “abuse of companies due to their dominant position” and the constant increase in prices -only in April monthly inflation was 8.4%-, the Government will implement actions ranging from the creation of an operations analysis unit of commerce to a “new role” of the Central Market, which will be able to directly import products without tariffs to be sold in stores.
Among other measures, ‘antidumping’ duties will also be suspended in some branches of products to reduce the price of imports and encourage competition and tax relief will be implemented for micro, medium and small companies to pay debts.
“April once again presented extremely high inflation data,” acknowledged on Friday the Secretary of Economic Policy, Gabriel Rubinstein, in a statement, in which he acknowledged that it is perceived that the “exchange rate unease in the financial dollar markets” in the last part of the month prompted “preventive price increases in many products and services” of the economy.
“This will require redoubling efforts from the macroeconomy, to be able to specify policies that allow improving fiscal accounts, the accumulation of reserves and exchange rate stability, as well as strengthening the income policy, all in order to achieve better results in the fight against inflation,” Rubinstein remarked on Friday.
Argentina, whose economy also suffers from the fluctuations of the electoral climate -this year it will hold presidential elections-, also continues to carry debts with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), an organization with which in 2022 it signed an agreement to refinance its debts that now it wants to modify to adapt to the effects of the severe drought on the drop in exports.
It is also expected that Massa will travel to China invited to participate in a meeting of the New Development Bank, bank of the BRICS -which make up Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa- at the end of this month, where he could analyze support for the pre-financing of exports from Brazil to Argentina.