Minister Vallejo and increase in the basic basket: “The Government is not thinking about setting prices” | National

In the Government they are exploring a formula to face the rise in the prices of basic products, indicating that they are evaluating all the proposals, but adding that they rule out an eventual price fixation.

Next week the Government hopes to reach an agreement to settle the discussion of the readjustment of the legal minimum wage that should come into force in May, where the CUT has raised the need for a protected basic basket, in the face of the high prices of essential products.

The idea is to be able to moderate the impact of the rise in essential products on pockets. Initially, three formulas were proposed: VAT reduction on food, price fixing or subsidies.

This, however, was only a proposal, according to the president of the CUT, David Acuña, who was open to dialogue.

The Government has already marked a position on this matter: what must be done is to point to permanent measures once morest inflation, there are NO magic wands and you have to trust the Central Bank.

Even so, the government spokesperson, Camila Vallejo, says that there is room to evaluate a measure in this regard.

Subsequently, the government spokeswoman said that they are not thinking of setting prices.

“It is important to clarify that the Government is not thinking of setting prices. Yes, we are concerned regarding the rise in food prices that affects families, and for this reason, we are studying other viable mechanisms. May the remedy not be worse than the disease,” Vallejo tweeted.

But the truth is that, among experts, there is a broad debate on this measure, with a clear consensus among specialists. For example, regarding the setting of prices, a measure that can cause a black market and, above all, scarcity, explains Felipe Berger, an economist and academic at the UDD.

Something more complex is the discussion regarding VAT. Here objections are raised above all because it is the tax that collects the most, and also lowering the tax implies a regressive measure.

However, there are formulas that can be explored, as the academic from the University of Chile, José Luis Ruiz, says.