The Secretary of Commerce said it “does not work miracles” and puts on the table the current state of “war” against inflation announced by President Alberto Fernández.

Roberto Feletti’s statements also left after months of testing with cautious pricing, freezing threats and promises to lower the price of bulk consumption products. the lack of accurate diagnosis about how they meant to approach a possible solution to major problems affecting the population and that the Government is hiding behind pointing out that it is “multicausal”.

In the official view, inflation this year is expected to be at 60% corresponds in part to unscrupulous traders and merchants which marks prices without higher costs and, therefore, increases their profits, and with increasing prices raw Materials triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

With that diagnosis, the Government considers that it has nothing to do with rising inflation and goes on to consider that it is a psychological problem of a society accustomed to living with high inflation.

The recipe chosen by the Government is to pay retirees earning a minimum wage bonus of $ 6,000 and negotiate with companies the possibility of providing compensation to private sector workers. And this amid intense pressure from social leaders to increase the volume of social plans. Are these requests compatible with the fulfillment of the objectives agree with the International Monetary Fund?

In his presentation as president of the Mediterranean Foundation’s IERAL, economist Carlos Melconian presented to an important group of traders on the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange a “Work Agenda for 2023” to discuss, essentially, what Argentina should do to rise above the process of inflation and stagnation in which it has sunk for a decade.

One of the topics he focuses on is: “The mother of macroeconomic instability to inherit in 2024: an unfundable level of primary spending”.

Melconian said: “Regardless of whether the IMF goal is achieved (0.9% of GDP of the primary deficit in 2024), there is primary public spending (Nation-provinces) close to 33 points of GDP ending in a financing crisis. and accelerating inflation ”. And he concluded that “inflationary financing of the fiscal deficit is rising.”

The synthesis is that the government is cooperating with high inflation because it allows to collect more through taxes, but also and in a decisive way to dissolve part of the main cost which includes pensions, subsidies, family allowances and social plans, salary and some other items.

Faced with the acceleration of inflation in February-March, the Government trying to agree with businessmen and unionists on withholding statements and claims, leaving the idea of ​​freezing that has already added frustrations. Another aspect is monetary tightening. To date, the Treasury has hardly asked the Central Bank for advances to pay off the deficit.

Meanwhile, the “pax will replace you” was extended, the free dollars (counted in liquidation, MEP) dropped to approximately $ 190 and the blue was at $ 199.

Equilibra, the consulting firm of Martín Rapetti and Diego Bossio, identified three factors which “will provide the conditions for the continuation of the dollar’s‘ pax ’” (although the official rose 3.2% in March).

They say, the January spike was 1) due to the excess peso and declining demand for the peso that went into the financial market, 2) there seems to be no surplus of pesos in the market and 3) little debt in pesos from foreign holders remains to be paid. But, also, because tensions may arise if doubts about whether the Government will be able to meet the objectives agreed with the Fund.

Between the IMF agreement and the inflow of US $ 2,984 million in March from agricultural exporters, the dollar remains silent despite the ruling party’s political crisis which is not productive and an inflationary blow to which the Government has not found an effective response.