Volunteers at a soup kitchen in the suburbs.
As admitted by President Alberto Fernández and Minister Martín Guzmán, the background to the official announcements is the severe loss of purchasing power a large part of the population due to inflation triggers and to a greater extent is hitting the most disvantaged sectors.
and marks a very strong increase in poverty and hardship in the first quarter of the year, more than 37.3% (17 million poor people) by the end of 2021.
Between January and March, average inflation is 16.1%, As for food, which had the largest impact on the Price Index, and had the largest impact on low or fixed income sectors, such as workers or retirees, the increase was 20.9%.
However, this Thursday INDEC will report that both the indigence basket and the poverty basket will again show increases above average inflation, taking the family’s poverty line to approximately $ 90,000, without calculating rent.
This is an amount that not only unemployed heads of households can afford to collect, but also families of informal wages, Monotributists and informal self-employed workers, and even registered wages, which calculates State assistance.
INDEC reported a few days ago that on average to get out of poverty, on average, poor households must have total income (labor and non-labor) 58.5% higher than they receive.
With these numbers at hand, among other measures, the Government decided to advance parity, give a bonus in April of up to $ 6,000 to retirees earning less than $ 38,630, increase the food card frozen for 14 months, fix the living and mobile minimum wage at $ 33,000, and the Private Home Workers Commission set increases for April, May and June.
Meanwhile, in relation to retirees and pensioners, the payment of another bonus is deducted to those with lower incomes because otherwise that sector. less charged in May than in April, with higher prices. As is well known, bonuses are not uncommon and are also not included in the monthly credit.
Because of this social panorama, the ads don’t seem to be enough. Because they don’t replace what is lost and forward inflation continues to do its thing. April began with new price increases. And the instruments the government used last year to “anchor” inflation – tariffs and the dollar – and even though the price increase was 50.9% – this year were “not anchored”, as agreed by IMF. “Optimistic” forecasts predict an inflationary floor this year of 60%.
The exchange rate or the official dollar – where all export and import trade is carried – is rising faster. And something is coming sharp increase in rates, even with segmentation.
The impact on domestic inflation of rising energy and raw material costs as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which stretches over time, and the economic retaliation measures adopted by most of the planet are insignificant. triggered international inflation.
The new bonus announced by Martín Guzmán: who will collect it and from when
Source: Clarin
