Aware that fair prices, synonymous with frozen values, would be extended, one of the leaders of the food sector released: “This freeze is read as a score that sounds different depending on who interprets it”. By the way, for the government though covers only 1,900 products between food, drinks, personal hygiene items and the cleaning of the 45,000 in the gondolas, it still does. They attribute the slow decline in inflation to him.
In December inflation in supermarkets was 3%, which would help prevent the index for the month to be released this Thursday from getting even more wild. The official intention is for these fair prices, which expire in March, to be extended for a second phase later another four months and then another four. This was stated by Minister Massa in a report given to Perfil.
On the business side, the score is different. They make sure it can be doner If there is no jump in the exchange rate and its cost side is also attacked in terms of inputs and manpower.
“It is an election year with issue, parity, rate hike, a whole combination and they want us to keep prices calm”, said the industrialist questioned who, in the face of tense negotiations, asked that his name not be used.
Massa tries to try with a key element: access to the cheap dollar for imports something that could be facilitated with the newest freely available exchange with China. And it offers them bonds that act as a hedge against a possible devaluation.
The programme, announced with great fanfare in November, provides for fixed prices for a meager 4.4% of the products offered in supermarkets. Apart from some reference brands, this basket is integrated with the brands of the chains. It is accompanied by another set with a monthly increase cap of 4%.
In case of fixed prices, compliance is 62%, admitted to the Secretariat of Commerce. Supermarkets watch shortage as many suppliers prefer to stock non-participating self-service shops and get better margins. The government replies that the wholesalers are fairly priced and that they are the ones providing self-service.
Meanwhile, they’ve teamed up with companies like Aluar, which reigns in aluminum, Dow in plastics, and Arcor’s packaging leader, Cartocor, to help with production costs.
Some believe it everything can creak if inflation does not show a downward path. Argentina has a deeply rooted culture of hedging behavior. Both businessmen when setting prices and consumers themselves when they anticipate purchases. And he agrees inspections before rampage are not enough or helpful.
As for the import mechanism, it is stated that it is “oiled for strategic inputs”.
This price package weighs 4.5 points in the consumer index reported by INDEC. Curiously, what most influenced the fact that there were no shots was meat, flat in the recent quarter largely as drought drove cows off fields, prompting higher livestock supplies. Also, due to falling Chinese demand.
There is another range of deals such as clothing with frozen prices that even so, it continued to drive inflation. They attribute this to the fact that it is limited to 63 brands and 70 products within each brand.
In the same line they tied one with shoes and now the 130 school basket items that are frozen from this month to the end of March.
Source: Clarin
