Economy Minister Sergio Massa will announce the freezing of more than 1,400 products on Friday, in a new attempt to curb inflation. The new program, to call “Fair Pricing”, will include the 453 items of the Service Pricing plan, which was renovated in early October.
Products participating in Care Prices had an authorized 4.7% increase in November (after 3.3% in October) and would have had a 4.4% increase in December. Now Massa will allow companies increase by 4% their prices this month compared to October, but they have to keep them the same until March.
In addition, according to sources familiar with the agreements, the rest of all the products of the companies that do not enter the program They cannot increase more than 4% per month. The economy had already asked supermarkets not to receive lists of increases above that value, so, in principle, that monthly increase ceiling would be both for companies that adhere to the agreement and for those who do not.
According to one of the companies that will participate in the agreement, more companies adhered to than those normally called for Care Prices and, for this reason, the Secretariat of Commerce, which is carrying out this initiative, has managed to get a good number of products into the freezer.
“There is accompaniment from across the industry to collaborate on the basket. There was resistance at first, but after getting into care prices and seeing the current inflation situation, there is general accompaniment, “a businessman said.
However, it is not yet known what the compensation offered by Economy will be. Presumably I was going to do it free up dollars for key imports for the mass consumption sector.
Regarding the participants, Massa had anticipated on Thursday at TN that they were “more than a hundred companies that they represent 86% of mass consumption in Argentina: food, hygiene, personal hygiene, cleaning products and other products related to the trash. “And he added that there will be first and second brands, in addition to those” owned “by supermarkets. And he highlighted, for example, the income of fantasya soft drink from the Coca-Cola line.
“These things are always worked in agreement with the companies. I have no idea who I am by resolution of the Ministry of Economy I freeze the prices. The best way is to work with the entire value chain, “he said. It was precisely this request for consent to companies that was put forward this Thursday by Daniel Funes de Rioja, head of the UIA.
Massa said that “most supermarket chains participate in the program, people will have identified it and be able to check compliance with the agreement with a simple mobile application, with the product barcode and to be able to report. The application is ready, they indicated by Economics.
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Source: Clarin
