In relation to inflation, which is heading to have a floor of 6% in July, Batakis affirmed that he has “expectation and confidence” after the talks he had with big businessmen. But the specific measure announced was related to Defense of Competition. It is an organization that investigates anti-competitive conduct and economic concentrationsto promote the proper functioning of the market and protect consumers.
Batakis’s reference is explained because the CNDC does not have a court, despite the fact that it was established by the legislation passed in 1999 (law 25156), and also the modification that was made in the government of Cambiemos (law 27444), of 2018. The lack of a court is not something minor, since it is the main authority that the body should have, which in the meantime it depends on the Ministry of Domestic Trade.
In fact, this court would function as a judicial court, which would not depend on the signature of a Secretary of Commerce, but rather the court itself could advance investigations ex officio. Also, Chapters of the law that do not apply because there is no court begin to govern, such as merger approvals “ex ante” that a business action is carried out, and not “ex post”, as is currently the casecompleted the facts.
“With a court, the Clarín-Cablevisión merger could never have happened, because in this way the legislation lacks its main authority, when it works, those things could not happen”, graphed the economist Claudio Lozano, director of Banco Nación. However, the formation of a court is not something automatic, as established in the latest law. It is given within the framework of a public contest, where four juries decide, already made up of the Ministry of Productive Development, the Treasury Attorney, the Association of Political Economy and the Academy of Law and Social Sciences. The juries choose a short list, it is sent to the Executive Power and finally the Senate approves (something similar to the presidency of the Central Bank).
Part of the procedure to form the court was carried out in December 2019, the last days of the government of Mauricio Macri. However, as soon as the Frente de Todos took office, in March 2020, former minister Matías Kulfas annulled the appointment process. Therefore, since the law was enacted until now, the CNDC tribunal has never been formed. In fact, the Government tried to modify the Law for the Defense of Competition, to modify the voting method. Although he had half a sanction in 2020 in the Senate, he was shipwrecked in Deputies.
In this way, to advance in the public contest under the current law, a regulation will be used that was put together under the management of the former Secretary of Commerce, Paula Español, which establishes the summoning of the juries. As this newspaper learned, the lack of definition of a court (authority) leads to investigations losing force when companies prosecute themwhile on the contrary, a court could give it more “power” to take precautionary measures.
Impact on prices?
SMEs celebrated the Batakis announcement. “The court will be essential to be able to control the abuses of everything that is spread inputs”, assured Carlos Alonso, an economist at Industriales Pymes (IPA). Along the same lines, Leo Bilanski, head of the Association of National Entrepreneurs (Enac), added: “The State urgently needs more mechanisms to be able to control, otherwise unfair practices that are denounced remain unresolved, affecting SMEs and workers. when higher prices are set.
However, Francisco Mattig, an economist at Portfolio Manager, anticipated that the measure will not be able to contain inflation in the short term. “The inflationary dynamics is not cut off with an authority from the CNDC, in addition its objective is not to regulate prices, but to guarantee conditions of competition in the market.” He believes that fiscal measures may be more effective for prices. “From a political point of view, I understand that this announcement can be understood as a nod to a certain sector of the ruling party. If we expect anything from Batakis, it is that he handles those tensions better than Guzmán.”
Source: Ambito
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