With Economy Minister Sergio Massa traveling to Washington, it was the turn of the Secretary of Internal Commerce, Matias Tomboliniput a face to explain the 7.7% inflation in March.
Tombolini detailed the fines that the Ministry of Commerce had applied in recent months for violations of the regulated tariff programs that he himself announced on several occasions and denounced the “abuses by price makers”.
officer he blamed it on inflation to the seasonality of March, to drought, to the summer heat and then to local businesses (Chinese shops and supermarkets)which have been barred from government regulated pricing schemes and have been harmed by this measure against large supermarket chains.
After knowing the inflation data for March, which showed a 7.7% increase, the nation’s secretary of commerce, Matías Tombolini, intervened, indicating “the price makers” who “are not respecting what was agreed” .
The official began his speech by saying: “the inflation data that was released today is a fact that hurts us and we are aware of the impact that this generates in the pockets of Argentines”.
“Minister Massa, understanding inflation as a multi-causal phenomenon, has proposed a clear roadmap that makes sense in fiscal design, reserve accumulation and pricing programmes. We understand, however, that this has not been enough so far “.
“March is a month that seasonally exhibits unusual behavior. Items like education, clothing, and even hotels and restaurants exhibit higher-than-normal increases in monthly behavior.”
“There are areas where we can improve and others where we have no control. For example, in food, the worst drought since 1922, the strongest heat wave since 1906 for one month of March and bird flu increased by 2 .1% the index “But the 9.7% we encountered in food and beverage also has to do with the role of price makers. With the Fair Pricing program, we have established a system of agreements, where we invite pricing managers to be part of the solution and not part of the problem.”
“However, we are seeing that the behavior of these price makers in terms of compliance in hypermarkets is correct, but they do not comply in local shops, where more than 60% of our compatriots’ consumption passes through.”
“While in price programs these moved by 5.1% in local companies these prices moved by 11.8%. It is clear that the price makers are not respecting the agreements that we have voluntarily entered into”.
Tombolini then underlined that the Government will advance in price agreements with exporters, who will have access to a differential dollar and will also be more rigorous in monitoring prices.
Source: Clarin
