With Now 30 still in effect, the government launched this on Monday a new program to finance the purchase of mobile phones in 10 fixed installments, with an annual rate of 48%. In return, the manufacturers of electronics they promised to keep the prices fixed for 90 daysthat is, until next March 15th.
Furthermore, and in keeping with an old affirmation of the Tierra del Fuego industry, mobile phones return to Now 12which allows you to pay any mobile phone in 3, 6 and 12 installments, as is the case for the rest of the products that make up this traditional financing program at subsidized rates.
All this is part of a broad agreement between the Minister of Economy, Sergio Massa, and the Secretary of Commerce, Matías Tombolini, with the companies grouped in Afarte, public and private banks, and appliance chains, among the sectors involved in this business .
“For people, the most important thing is that We are talking about 72 different types of phone models and almost all brands. It gives them the ability to choose products that They range from 40,000 to $200,000 and pay them much cheaper,” Massa said.
The minister also underlined that, in return and to offset the cost of the Now 10 subsidy, “the state undertakes a commitment to all household appliance manufacturers and the financial system in accessing foreign currency”.
In the same line (fix prices in dollars to pay for imports), Tombolini advances in other sectoral negotiations, including mass consumption, textiles and fuels. Without going any further, this week they plan to announce deals with widespread inputs (food suppliers), footwear and tourism industry.
“Is very important establish a maximum price criterion as we are doing”, Massa underlined, adding that “we are moving forward with targeted measures and programmes order prices to bring predictability and relief to Argentines and recover the purchasing power of wages through voluntary agreements with various productive sectors”.
Now 10 for mobile seems to be the replacement for Now 30, which expires on December 22 and allows you to finance the purchase of TVs, air conditioning, cell phones, washing machines and refrigerators. The program did not produce the expected results.
In chains and specialty stores, they say it has failed to seduce a public more interested in financing their daily purchases than in household appliances. And they emphasize the huge amount of commercial waste the level of debt of the people e due to the low fee that credit cards have in general.
Even if the official sources refuse to talk about bankruptcy, they assure it Hour 30 will not be extended until January, as originally planned. “It was decided not to continue because, although sales increased and there was good volume, the 30 fixed installments did not seem very attractive. They only served these specific months,” they explained to this newspaper.
The quota on cards is decisive, warn the specialized chains. It happens that the financing with Ahora 30 (2 and a half years) at a rate of 48% – well below the market – doubles the amount of the operation. By purchasing a $150,000 product, for example, the user would have a limit of $300,000.
Now 10 charges the same rate, but as the period is shorter, the actual ticket increases by almost 27%. For a $100,000 cell phone, you only need a share of nearly $127,000.
In any case, with the new 10-fixed-rate plan, the industry expects to be able to sell one million units per month, up from the current 700,000. In AFARTE they plan to produce 10 million mobile phones in 2022, despite the lack of dollars and import obstacles. As for Ahora 10, the goal “of this program and of Ahora 12 also serves as an increase in marketing volume,” Massa enthuses.
Source: Clarin
