Caputo celebrated that a manufacturer lowered prices: what happens in other sectors?

Concerned about the evolution of inflation in the third month of the year, the Minister of Economy Luis Caputo cwelcomed the fact that an international company announced a price drop and called on other companies to follow in its footsteps. This comes before the release of Indec’s March CPI, which, according to most consultancies, could show a strong deceleration compared to February and between 10% and 13%.

On his social account zipper closures, in which they announce a 10% discount. in their list prices since last Monday.

“YKK Argentina SA has decided to begin a process of reducing prices, motivated by the firm belief of contributing to the slowdown of the prevailing inflation”, headlines the publication published by the head of the economic portfolio. “We know that the challenge is great, there are too many fiscal obstacles that hinder the good behavior of companies, it will not be easy to reverse the current situation, but if we don’t take the first step we will never be able to move forward.”

“No one prospers unless they provide benefits to others,” is the company’s motto. Japanese origin, which has been present in the country since 1981 and has a large production plant in Pilar.

Caputo accompanied the statement with this statement: “If we combine macroeconomic orthodoxy with entrepreneurial attitudes like this, “We will get out of this mess sooner than anyone expected.”

Caputo’s celebration comes weeks after the government opened imports to lower the prices of products consumed on local shelves, which led the Indec CPI to show a “rogue inflation”.

15 days ago, the Minister of Economy, again in his X profile, attacked the owners of the Mar del Plata Cabrales at the price of coffee. “In a month it will already compete with the imported ones, so I don’t think it will sell much more coffee at those prices…” The company’s response was immediate and they warned him Those prices are “fine”, in line with what the rest of the market offers.

Food prices showed a faster deceleration in March and, while the government estimates that the consumer price index, to be published by INDEC next week, “could reach the single-digit level”. Private consultancy firms attribute the recession as a determining factor in the slowdown in prices.

This was stated by the economic analyst Damián Di Pace interviewed by Clarity: “In the last week of March, the price changes of various product categories in the basic basket collapsed compared to what was observed the previous week.

“In food, beverage, cleaning and personal care items, the third week of March slows down compared to the second week. Secondly, in items, for example, cleaning, personal care is one of the categories that has started to increase less, that In fact, prices vary much lower”, explained the director of the consultancy firm Focus Market, based on a survey carried out in 900 points of sale across the country.

Despite the drop in prices You can’t see it reflected in the gondolas yetDi Pace noted that promotions and discounts are becoming more and more frequent as part of companies’ strategy to support consumption. «For everything that is durable, let’s talk about household appliances, technology, there are starting to be strong promotions, category discounts, 30% discounts on the finance payment method because it has a very high average ticket. So in many cases here the price does not drop, but there are strong promotions, offers and discounts and means of payment to finance the operation.”

YKK’s announcement is, for now, the first from an international company who decides to lower prices in this context. After several government meetings with consumer chains, some supermarkets have started to apply “unit discounts” instead of the famous 2×1 or 4×3 promotions. The Ministry of Economy closely follows the evolution of prices and warns that the products on the shelves do not reflect the slowdown in inflation already seen in some products.