The theme that prevailed throughout the entire conversation was a very strong criticism of politics. “This coordination between the three is a message to politics, which is decisive in economic life. If we want political dialogue and state policies, let’s start by setting an example,” said Funes de Rioja. Along the same lines, Grinmann stated: “The country that has the second world gas reserves, but imports gas, is a political problem, which is why these initiatives that are in the young head of Alfredo González are very good at giving signals , because in this way politics leaves much to be desired, on this side and on the other”. The phrase was widely applauded by the audience.
As far as he could find out Ambit, The great underlying desire of the business community is that there can be a meeting between Vice President Cristina Kirchner and the former president, Mauricio Macri, where state policies can be agreed. From the stage, Funes de Rioja stated: “Nobody will be able to govern Argentina alone in December 2023. It doesn’t matter who wins, but there has to be some joint responsibility, does not mean mixing, that each one maintains his ideas, but being able to follow common paths ”. In fact, under the stage, an important businessman revealed that there is a “daily dialogue” between the Minister of Economy, Sergio Massa, and the Head of Government of Buenos Aires, Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, but “it is not enough.” “Today extremes are needed,” said the CEO, who preferred not to be mentioned.
But the short-term policy request is for institutions, such as the Legislative Branch, to function again. There is a lot of concern about the stoppage of Congress. On this point, González from CAME affirmed: “More hours are debated on television sets than in Congress, where situations that border on shame are seen. The problem is political rather than economic. Even Grinmann went for more and spoke of changing the Constitution: “Perhaps the problem is that every two years we have elections. The president has to have a 6-year term and that he can never return to public activity, so renewal will be generated ”.
But in addition, the business community makes this alliance, since it seeks to influence politics, facing an election year, and set the agenda. “We have to be able to build an agenda with this space, so that a window does not open for those who say everything yes, we do not fall into that seduction”, affirmed Funes de Rioja. Along the same lines, González added: “We want to be taken into account for consultations, set an agenda, generate business union policy.” In fact, the business chambers with good ties to the Government complained that they had not been summoned. “It’s strange that they don’t invite us having national representation, CAME and CAC have only one collective agreement, the 37 of us,” said a representative of the Argentine Business Confederation (Cgera).
After the event, Ámbito consulted the businessmen on the topic of the day: the bonus that the Government defined that the private sector should give. Funes de Rioja assured that he did not read the decree, but that he considers that a bonus “is only justified” for those workers outside the agreement. “If it is different from that, it does not seem like the solution to me,” he said. Along the same lines, although González from CAME assured that greater purchasing power could boost domestic consumption for SMEs, he assured that the mechanism should be parity. Even They were concerned about having the parity currently open with the Commerce union, with whom they will meet in January. “It will be more counterproductive than positive, I think like Daniel,” said the head of CAME. Grinmann added that it will have an impact on inflation : “The payment of a bond is at a price, there is no way, there is an important framework such as parities, the Government is making decisions that do not correspond to it.”
The urgent and the medium term
As an urgent problem, the business community referred to inflation. “Today it is the cyst that limits the purchasing power of customers, surely it is multi-causal and so on, but it is the big problem today for productive Argentina,” said González. With a different look at the causes, Grinmann affirmed: “Beyond the multi-causal, it is public spending and monetary emission, and not indebtedness and oligopolies, which are present here and in all countries.” Although it was not mentioned on stage, the great concern today among businessmen is the difficulty in financing imports and the stagnation of activity.
As usually happens in business meetings, they also asked for structural reforms. From the stage, Funes de Rioja revealed that the UIA is finishing a study on “7 taxes that are the highest in the world. He called for a simplification, and asked for a State “that is not minimal, but efficient.” Although it was not discussed in the public debate, under the stage it was suggested that another of the necessary reforms is labor, although they do not want to call it that. The business community will seek to dialogue with the CGT to find “readjustments”, at least for new jobs. González also publicly called for a structural reform so that the social plans are transformed into employment, given that at the moment there is a decree, which he said is not enough and that a law from Congress would be needed.
Source: Ambito
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