Cristina reported that there is an import party. Photo: German Garcia Adrasti
In the “import festival“According to Vice President Cristina Kirchner, the Argentine economy is alive, the judicial protections to free the entry of goods have a very low impact
Yesterday, at the action of the CTA of Avellaneda, Cristina denounced an import party and took the opportunity to attack the judiciary again in the fervor of the protections that judges and prosecutors grant to importers.
According to the vice president, “between January 2021 and March 2022, $ 1.847 billion They left the country for imports authorized by judges and prosecutors “. He explained that there are more than 6,500 amparo files”.Where dollars are needed, there will be judges and prosecutors who will authorize those dollars“, he jokes.
What made it concrete is that those 1,847 million dollars, in the 15 months to which Cristina referred, represent 2.3% of total importsfor a total of 77,661 million dollars. This is 123 million dollars a monthunder the 150 million dollars a day that the country spends on energy imports.
Shelters have grown in the heat of the exchange gap. Last year, there were around 500 presentations a month, and today there are already nearly 1,000 companies in litigation, in a universe that reaches nearly 25,000 importers, according to the vice president’s reports. They are only 4% of the total.
Importers resort to injunctions when, despite having obtained the OK from AFIP through the Comprehensive Import Monitoring System (SIMI), the Central Bank does not sell them the dollars necessary to complete the operation. These injunctions usually take three to four months, mainly concern consumer goods and represent a additional cost for the importerwho has to pay about an additional 20% in paperwork and lawyers.
“Few show up, but those who do are succeeding“said Marcelo Elizondo, a specialist in foreign trade.
“The judges understand that the government does not have the authority to restrict an import activity that is not prohibited by law. The Constitution establishes the right to trade and injunctions are acknowledgments of the right to comply with the contract,” Elizondo stressed.
Imports they are growing at a rate of 31% per year in the first quarter. One of the data that Cristina does not mention in her interventions is that the segment that rises the most is the import of energy, a voice that jumped 195% from year to year and it took until April 3.04 billion dollars.
Economic projections indicate that this year will close with record exports and imports: US $ 90,000 million versus US $ 77,000 million.
Elizabet Bacigalupo, analyst of the consulting firm Abeceb, reveals that behind the so-called import festival “There is a phenomenal price effect. Due to the effect of the post-pandemic and the war in Ukraine, the prices of imported goods are increasing by 16 or 17% in dollars. “
But according to data from the last quarter of 2021, In quantity, imports are down 7% compared to 2012 and 21% compared to 2017.
“If there was an import festival, it would be caused by bad public policies. A 100% exchange rate gap encourages importers to do so try to get as many official dollars as you can“.
“The outlook is that there will be a greater tightening of import restrictions. This will have an impact on the level of activity for the second half of the year, which will also receive the delayed impact of the inflationary flash on purchasing power and consumption. “noted Bacigalupo.
AQ
Annabella Quiroga
Source: Clarin
