The head of the Argentine Industrial Union (UIA), Daniel Funes de Rioja, conditioned the sector’s support on Thursday to the price freeze program that the government will implement, stressing that it must be voluntary with a counterparty of the authorization to access dollars to support production processes.
“Last night the secretary (of Commerce, Matías Tombolini) contacted me to tell me that they had already reached an agreement with the companies for what was announced tomorrow (Friday) and I am interested in check if this was the product of an agreement”, The leader told Radio Rivadavia, before joining the 28th Industrial Conference of the manufacturing entity, which takes place in the Parque Norte.
Economy Minister Sergio Massa announced that on Friday he will present the “Fair Prices” program, which includes a basket of 1400 products which will hold their prices for four months with a 4% adjustment for that entire period.
Funes de Rioja underlined that from UIA and COPAL (the body that brings together food companies and which also represents him) “we say no to freezing prices, yes to agreements”. And he added that “in my dictionary the word freezing does not exist in a market economy” and that “unilateral blocks in environments of high inflation and input instability they do not lead to a good path “.
The leader said that the eventual agreement “must be a voluntary act and with a certain feeIt’s like instant access to dollars for production inputs, ”the industrialist insisted.
Furthermore, he urged the government to find solutions to the lack of dollars because “the industry cannot be stopped. If the industry is stopped, it will never be reactivated. If we think we’re going to run out of dollars, we will run out of dollars. “
“You have to give inputs to production in order not to stop the production and consumption processes. This problem must be solved in the best possible way. There is nothing more to say, because we have nothing else “, reiterated Funes de Rioja, according to what was published by the NA agency.
On the blocking of imports, the head of the UIA stated that “there are complexities that have been dragging on for three months. The systems have been changed, the mechanisms have been discussed, at the UIA we have opened a window for companies to process import orders and it all has to do with strong currency restriction, which sends dollars out in a trickle.
Funes de Rioja acknowledged that “there were protections whose decision may be questionable, but in a scenario of scarcity. Argentina will export for 100 billion dollars and despite everything we have a very complex panorama ”.
The director of the UIA warned that “a decline in economic activity with recession and inflation would make us fall in a stagflation”And stated that“ this crisis is neither good nor bad for the industry, it is a profound crisis that embraces the whole of society ”.
NEITHER
Source: Clarin
