While the government faces a political crisis by little more than a month of the national legislative elections with the case of alleged corruption in the National Disability Agency (Andis)added to the defeats in deputies with the laws of university financing and the Garrahan and in the Senate with the ATN to the provinces, Economic turbulence was added by the dollar that exceeded the roof of the band and was sold at $ 1,520 in the banks at the end of the week, which lit the alarms in the minister’s team Luis Caputo.
“We fully trust the program. We are not going to move, there will be no changes. We are going to sell to the last dollar in the band’s roof. There are enough dollars for all, ”he said Caputo In an interview at Streaming Cajo on Thursday night. While the message of the same Thursday night sought to give peace of mind, it was clear that the official strategy relies on the intensive use of reserves to contain the exchange pressure.
Adjustment in education and control over the dollar
Taking this Thursday and Friday where The BCRA sold US $ 389 million YU $ S678 million respectively, In a single day the government used in reservations the equivalent of an annual budget of the University of Buenos Airesjust to contain the price of the dollar. In this regard, Scope He spoke with Martín RuizUndersecretary of Finance of the UBA, who explained: “Both in 2024 and 2025, the UBA budget was approximately US $ 500 million. If one compares it against the US $ 389 million that the Government used on Thursday, it equals 80%. Already with the number of today more yesterday, it is equivalent to two annual budgets of the UBA”
Not only is the issue of exchange volatility. The week also had a strong load of political tension, with the presentation of Javier Milei of the 2026 budget, added to the blows that Congress gave to the government.
With the discussion of the “Law of laws”the issue of educational financing is revived, since the government project Try to repeal 6% of GDP as a floor for the education budget stipulated by law, among other cuts. In that sense, for Ruiz “the budget is always an issue linked to the priorities and that is why it is treated in the Nation Congress.” “It seems to me that at this point The problem is that for the first time for two consecutive years there was a extended budget And that extended budget added to the fact that they were promptly high inflation years, the Executive Power were generated a lot of discretion in those priorities”He said.
The Undersecretary of the Treasury of the UBA gave a preliminary vision of the numbers of the 2026 budget project presented by Milei. “The budget for universities of 2025 ranges 0.5% of GDP, while by 2026 one could estimate it slightly below that guarismo”accurate.
In that sense, he explained: “To put it in dimension, In 2023 the universities budget was 0.73% of GDPif one goes a little further to 2017 for example the budget of the universities measured in terms of GDP reached 0.87 product points”
In addition to this fall, he pointed out Ruizfor the initiative promoted by the Executive by 2026 “it is added that it proposes to repeal the floor that was guaranteed for all the education known as consolidated public spending, stipulated in the National Education Lawthat by the way, the investments that the National Public Sector in the Universities are not being fulfilled. Now, By 2026, what he proposes is directly to repeal him”
In this way, to Ruiz The importance of having A budget for 2026 approved For Congress is that “It will allow public bodies to be able to have a forecast and planning regarding the resources with which they are going to containA, in the case of universities, contemplating promptly what has to do with the University Financing Law, ”he argued.
The situation of universities since Javier Milei assumed
He balance In these almost two years of libertarian management for universities in investment and financing was totally negative. In this regard, Scope He consulted Juan Ignacio Dobertiprofessor and researcher at the UBA, who analyzed how higher education in resources since Milei assumed.
“National Universities have suffered an unprecedented budget cut since the assumption of the Milei government. The most important component, wages, which today constitutes 90% of its expenditures, was reduced in a third, something that the government even recognizes in the recitals of the veto to the University Financing Law. This prevents attracting and retaining qualified teachers, generating an exodus towards other activities, ”Doberti explained.
In that sense, the teacher and researcher warned: “The consequence is very serious for teaching and dramatic for research that needs to consolidate training groups with training through the years through a relationship between teachers and disciples”.
Another problem caused by government budget cuts is the missing resource for operation, which implied a strong impact on the provision of the service of public universities. “The operating expenses were cut in a similar way since April of the year 2024, which added to the increase in public services rates prevents proper financing of classrooms, laboratories, libraries, study trips, hospitals, etc.” Doberti.
Also, he said Doberti“Infrastructure works with financing from the national state were totally stoppedwhich mainly affects the new universities, as well as scholarships for students of vulnerable families that were eliminated in more than half of the cases (-56%) and the remaining lost 65% of their values. “Therefore,” this has the additional damage of affecting the social sectors with less economic, social and cultural capital, severely hindering educational trajectories, “the specialist emphasized.
By way of conclusion about the situation that the high houses are going through, Doberti stated: “The government did not close national universities but forced them to function with such a shortage of resources that will inevitably generate a decrease in their performancewhich will justify, from the perspective of the Executive Power, its definance, in a perverse circuit of self -fulfilling prophecy ”.
Source: Ambito
