To reduce shortages, they expect price adjustments

In his early days as head of the Internal Trade Secretariat, Guillermo Hang had already made two important decisions. The first is keep the technical team after the resignation of Roberto Feletti. So far, only Undersecretary of Actions for the Defense of the Nation’s Consumers, Liliana Schwindt, has followed in her footsteps, while her counterpart for Policies for the Internal Market Antonio Mezmezian, will continue in her position during of transition.

The second dimension of the person supported by Martín Guzmán under the orbit of the Ministry of Economy is the advance for the June update of Care Prices. The program of nearly 1,400 products is reviewed every three months. The final agreement, under Feletti’s management, planned increases of 3% per month on average in April, May and June. The next review is on July 7thbut Hang is negotiating at these times the progress of such increases.

Without setting general guidelines, the idea -according to official sources- has a update the “window” on those products whose prices are older for guarantee your supply. The latest understanding gave an average increase of 9% between April and June, nearly half of the 17% that inflation could have accumulated during that time, according to private consultants.

Guzmán’s trusted friend, who went through the management of Guillermo Moreno and Augusto Costa, had to sit down over the next few days with mass consumption companies, where his arrival raised expectations. The Coordinator of Food Products Industries (Copal), led by Daniel Funes de Rioja, He asked for a meeting last Thursday to learn the new rules of the place.

“We are asking for a special meeting, there are items with price mismatch because supply and imports are increasing, there is a shortage, or their price has changed significantly,” said Funes de Rioja. However, “supply is declining because demand is weakening and there has been overstocking in retail due to the fact that local businesses are also buying from wholesalers and supermarkets,” he warned.

Prior to his sudden departure, apparently at the request of Vice President Cristina Kirchner, Feletti noted a supply level of 65%, lower historical level of 75%. In this framework, he raised with companies the need to reduce the gap in products outside of Care Prices and the possibility of advancing increases until June, a proposal that Hang has now taken in a new signal to private sector.

supermarket supplies they relativize the missing and assign it to “specific” cases. Of course, they recognize that in some important chains there are situations where the supply of certain products to the gondolas has been reduced because suppliers have referred them to Chinese or smaller supermarkets, where the official program is not applies and they can shift higher increases.

Amid these failures, the new Secretary of Internal Trade met on Thursday with the technical teams and confirmed that he would continue working with the same people, without providing details about moving the venue from Productive Progress towards the Economy or possible structural changes. . “I’m going to work,” he said in a sort of introduction and greeted all the staff.

One of its main challenges is achieving results. Guzmán seeks to show a downward path to inflation. After reaching its highest level in 30 years in April, private companies expect more than 70% in 2022. Consulting firms, such as EcoGo, have observed another problem: food prices have slowed. , but since the last week of April rebounded, driven by meat and oil.