The surge in prices, the breakdown of the payment chain and the uncertainty caused by the paralysis of public works are putting the construction sector in check, which is going through a crisis”Crisis without presidentsCompanies in this segment have asked the national and provincial authorities for “a solution in the shortest possible time”. avoid 200,000 layoffs.
Gathered in a Federal Council, convened byr the Argentine Chamber of Construction (CAMARCO), construction companies have declared themselves in “State of emergency throughout the territory” e They called on the government to provide “a solution to the issues raised as soon as possible.” More than 1,400 businesses from across the country, of all types and colors, attended this council, warning that the problems they face, in many cases, are “of a terminal nature.”
They assured that “if the current serious situation persists, it will have irreversible effects on the sector in particular and the economy in general.”
In one document it is noted that “across the country, the danger of mass layoffs, of reducing staff by half or less, the bankruptcy of countless construction companies and their suppliers is imminent. “The sector cannot last more than a few weeks under these conditions,” they said.
According to entrepreneurs, the inflationary leap of the last two months, which could exceed 50% in the two months of December and January, is what affects the sector the most. “The entire country is experiencing a state of economic and social emergency. This emergency is already worsening in the construction sector, where it originates is the inflationary excess of 2023aggravated by the very high increase in prices last December and January and the resulting disruption of the payment chain,” the document indicates.
But the industry is going through a longer crisis, caused by the virtual paralysis of infrastructure works starting from the second half of the year, due to the electoral period, which worsened in December, withn the arrival of Javier Milei at the Casa Rosada.
Faced with this situation, the Federal Council declared itself passive “State of emergency throughout the country and instructed the authorities of the Institution at national level and of the various Delegations to adopt the measures they deem necessary, to obtain, in a very short period of time, the solution to specific problems such as the definition of contracts that will be continued, and the readjustment of these in terms of prices, conditions and debt”.
“Regard the only alternative to avoid the destruction of the sector’s productive fabric and over 200,000 layoffs“we read in the document.
The paralysis of public works occurs at the moment of the exit of Guillermo Ferraro from the Ministry of Infrastructure and the incorporation of this portfolio under the orbit of the Ministry of Economy, chaired by Luis Caputo.
“The human capital formed over decades, nor the capital, structure and knowledge accumulated in companies cannot be dispersed, further prolonging a crisis that has lasted for months,” the construction industrialists underlined.
Source: Clarin
