Augusto Costa is the Minister of Production of Buenos Aires and was the creator of Care Prices, in 2014.
After a laborious agreement with producers for the renewal of Care Prices, the Minister of Production Development, Daniel Scioli, held a meeting with the main leaders of the large supermarket chains. The aim was to ensure compliance with the main program, especially in the normal supply of products. The big news, however, was the presence at the meeting of Augusto Costa, who is now part of the cabinet of the governor of Buenos Aires, Axel Kicillof.
On behalf of the private sector, the CEO of Coto, Guillermo Calcagno; the CEO of Carrefour, Pablo Lorenzo; the managing director of Cencosud, Alejandro Arruiz; the director of corporate affairs of Changomás, Juan Pablo Quiroga; the General Manager of La Anónima, Nicolás Braun; the Director of Corporate Affairs of Día, Martín Álvarez Espíndola; the managing director of Toledo, Bernabé Toledo; and the Executive Director of the United Supermarkets Association (ASU), Juan Vasco Martínez.
Costa is one of the bishops of Christianity. Also, was responsible for implementing service pricing in 2014 when he was an official in the Ministry of Economy, under the direction of his current head: Kicillof. Costa praised the “coordinated work between the private sector and the state to ensure consumer peace of mind and give signs of predictability” and said the Buenos Aires government is “collaborating with the national government by conducting polls”.
The appointment with the main references of the supermarket takes place two days before knowing the inflation data for June, which according to the forecasts of the private consultants will be above the month of May. Two of them, Equilibra and Eco Go la estimated at around 5.4%. And all this is aggravated by a context of high uncertainty with prices, the value of the dollar and missing items.
“In general terms, we were asked for cooperation and responsibility during the meeting, and shortages in some product categories were also mentioned,” a private sector source told Clarin. On this particular question, Costa asked the owners of the supermarkets “make every effort possible”. Thus Scioli enters fully into negotiations with a sector considered by a wing of the ruling party as “price makers”.
Scioli and Costa were accompanied by the Secretary of Industry, Ariel Schale, the new Secretary of Commerce, Martín Pollera, a man close to the Minister of Economy, Silvina Batakis, and the Undersecretary for Internal Market Policies, Antonio Mezmezian. The presence of Mezmezian is striking. He held a key role in the cabinet of the resigning Roberto Feletti and left his post with the arrival of Guillermo Hang. Apparently, he returns to the place with the arrival of Pollera.
The new Care List includes a basket of 949 products (370 fewer than the previous edition) e average adjustments of 9.3% for the next quarter. This phase of the program will run until 7 October and is the result of a long process of negotiation with manufacturers and suppliers of the mass consumer industry. Care Price consists of warehouse items, cleaning, perfumery, personal care and hygiene, items for babies, fresh products (cured meats, pasta,
Damiano Kantor
Source: Clarin
