Economy Minister Sergio Massa announced yesterday that the government is preparing “A stabilization plan between December and March” to freeze prices “In the hottest months of the year” in products that “account for 86%” of mass consumption. allude to the most sensitive category for the population because it covers food, drinks, toiletries and cleaning, that is, the most basic.
In radio statements, Massa also specified that they are working on developing a new function of the app “My Argentina”, which will allow people to check gondola prices by simply scanning the barcode. He added that if this does not happen, violations can be reported by the application itself, with corporate fines that could reach $ 240 million.
Although he did not say so explicitly, Massa referred to the negotiations carried out by the Secretary of Commerce, Matías Tombolini, to agree on a “Fair Price”, which provides an agreement with manufacturers to set prices from 1,200 to 1,500 items of the main brands for 120 days. “We give companies with certainty incentives to enter foreign exchange markets and tax incentive programs. If we respect, we all win ”, underlined the minister.
Mass’s statements come two weeks before we know about October inflation. When asked about it, the official said: “I don’t like doing futurology and I prefer to wait for the INDEC numbers”. However, private screenings are approaching 7% and predict a higher number in the food and beverage category. For LCG, for example, spending increased by 7.9% in the last 4 weeks against an overall inflation of 6.5%.
Since last week, Tombolini himself has phoned several consultants to anticipate the data and they say that “he is quite worried about the matter”. Companies, on the other hand, They were surprised by Massa’s statements. Sources in the industry agree that “we have stopped having contact with the Secretary of Commerce” after the first talks to agree on fair prices two weeks ago. “This is a continuous déjà vu”Denounced a senior executive.
Since taking office, Tombolini has come to control pricing and foreign trade. He is responsible for the management of SIRA (Import Systems of the Argentine Republic), the area that grants or refuses permits for the entry of goods into the country. After renewing the service prices, which today has a list of 452 products that adjust month after month below inflation, has entered into negotiations with around 20 producers to launch fair prices.
“After the last meeting, two weeks ago, we had no more news,” they said Clarione from a food They referred to the meetings held by the major consumer companies, including Arcor, Mastellone, Quilmes, Coca-Cola, Unilever and Aceitera General Deheza, to negotiate a basket of leading brand products that reaches the entire country.
Tombolini wanted the prices to be printed on the packaging, with the aim that the program reaches all marketing channels (shops, self-service, local businesses) and not just the big chains, as in the case of Care Prices. This request, for some companies, “is very difficult to implement” and for others “it is directly unfeasible”.
This Monday Massa raised the alternative of a popular, digital price check through the new mobile app. “Each mobile will read the barcode that the package has and the price corresponding to that product will appear. If the trade is non-compliant, there will be two buttons to signal that it is non-compliant, ”the minister explained and said that, for the time being, this will replace the price tag on the packages.
Source: Clarin
