The agreements reached for a new stage of the program Care Prices, with some 1,300 products in the basket and average increases of 2% per month, They will be signed on Monday and Tuesday between the Ministry of Internal Trade and companies that produce food and consumer goods. “Chronicle” economists were contacted, who offered their opinion on the matter.
“It is good that the agreement starts as annual. It gives expectations to all economic sectors“said the economist in dialogue with this medium Juan Enrique, in reference to the predictability and projection of prices. He highlighted: “Let us remember that in the first quarter there will be authorization for an increase of 2% per month. That means that inflation is considered to be a problem next year and that it will be above 2%, we already started with that data “.
For Enrique, “Careful Prices serve, above all, small entrepreneurs. The large ones out there too, but there is a marketing issue. I don’t think they join because of that, but rather because the State is going to look for them, if not They would not do anything, “he said and added:” I think there is a strong participation of the State in the economy and it is as it should be. With Care Prices alone, inflation will not lower, they are reference prices and now the Central Bank is attacking with monetary policies, such as the change in interest rate policy and also in the incentive for those who did leliq to invest in the Treasury bond “.
It also held that “It is very difficult to lower inflation from 52% to 30%, it is almost impossible. There will be an inflation with a floor of 35% next year, which is 33% what the budget estimated, so the 2% authorization increase in the first monthly quarter shows that. “
For its part, Nicolas Pertierra, chief economist at the Scalabrini Ortiz Center for Economic and Social Studies, opined that “2% per month is a novelty; I think that what is avoided and can be positive in that is that there are sudden jumps of 6, 8 or 10% from one month to the other, when it expired every three months”. Along these lines, he affirmed that he does not believe that they are joining to make their products visible. “They know that they have to contribute something, that they cannot kick the negotiating table and neither are sectors that have done badly with this government, so they have to show some will “, ended.
It should be noted that the new basket will replace the freeze that ended on Friday and was agreed with the companies in negotiations that took place in the last month. Sources from the Secretary of Commerce confirmed to this medium that the understanding is closed, but that due to the number of companies and products this week the agreements with the participating companies will be completed.
This new agreement, which will be valid for one year with quarterly reviews and monthly increases, contemplates an average increase of 6% for this first quarter, that is, values may be updated at a rate of 2% per month. The figure is not confirmed, but sources close to the negotiation that leads Roberto Feletti, in tune with the national economic team, highlighted that this new stage of Care Prices will seek to avoid important jumps in prices, as happened in October 2021, during the previous election.
“There is a predisposition to dialogue and the government proposes that it seeks to guarantee a wide and diverse basket, with affordable prices and quality goods, always representative of the average consumption of Argentines”they explained. In this context, companies were able to add or remove products from the lists as long as they met the condition of quality and representativeness of consumption, which made it possible to consolidate a basket of twice the number of products from the 2021 Care Prices.
In October, the government -through the Secretariat- had acted much more quickly through a resolution due to the fact that they had been registered in the last weeks of September and the first weeks of October. “excessive increases” in mass consumer products.
To give continuity to the pricing policy, the Secretariat worked since December with the companies that supply mass consumer products to agree on a regulated basket, with a floor of 1,300 products in force throughout 2022, with quarterly reviews and monthly corrections.
The agreement will reach supermarkets and warehouses and a differential price will be worked out according to the size of the trade, following difficulties arose in the proximity shops in the freeze to guarantee the profitability margin.
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