The pre-candidates for president of Together for Change and their technical teams met yesterday at the Emperador hotel to discuss the situation and agree on an economic plan. After the conclave, a joint communiqué was issued in which “attacking inflation” was set as a priority. The recipes expressed by the advisers of each candidate, sometimes in public and sometimes in private, are quite similar despite the fact that differences in “speeds” persist. There is talk of releasing the stocks, of achieving fiscal balance and ordering relative prices, but the economists who participated in the conclave acknowledge that no one explains the “how”.
The internal differences of Together for Change occur on the political level, not in the economic course that the applicants plan to establish. Euphemisms may disguise the facts, but they do not change them. Both Horacio Rodríguez Larreta and Patricia Bullrich or Gerardo Morales propose an adjustment plan. Then, it is up to the reader to decide whether the situation warrants it or not. The differences, in any case, appear in the speeds and in the field of nuances.
The communiqué released after the meeting crystallized the harmony. “We agreed on a road map to attack, as a priority, inflation that destroys wages, generates poverty and messes up our lives”, reads the text that was delivered to the press and avoids specific references to the International Monetary Fund, devaluation and any specific measure that can be applied from December 10.
“When it is said that the exchange rate prevents the normal development of activities, we are all in agreement, what happens is that nobody says how to get out of it,” acknowledged one of the economists present. The truth is that some contradictions appear there, Bullrich is listed among those who promise to lift it from day zero, although she, consulted by this means, did not know how to specify what would be the point of convergence of the unified exchange rate.
His main economic adviser, who many point to as a potential economy minister, is Luciano Laspina. The national deputy even went a little further, speaking of a stabilization plan, which could have as the “icing on the cake” the creation of a new currency. The former president of the Pro says that “she is going to adjust the policy to misalign the people.” It is not clear how this would close the fiscal gap.
“If you say what, don’t say when; If you say when, don’t say what or how ”, the phrase permanently resonates both among the opposition candidate and in her teams. Again, few details. What is clear is that there was a consensus among the attendees to reject the “shortcuts” represented by the “magical solutions” such as the dollarization proposed by Javier Milei.
On Rodríguez Larreta’s side, they assure that “whoever says they can remove the stocks the first day is lying.” The spokesman for the proposals of the head of government yesterday afternoon was Hernán Lacunza, who has all the tickets to lead the Palace of Finance again if the head of the Buenos Aires Executive jumps to the Nation.
The one who surprised was Facundo Manes. He arrived at the Buenos Aires hotel escorted by Marina Dal Poggetto and Martín Rapetti. Two highly respected economists in the markets for their roles in Eco Go and Equilibra, the consultancies they head. The radical’s team focuses on fiscal balance and the regressive effect of the gap that “is an explicit subsidy from exports to imports.”
Among the economists who passed through Del Libertador avenue, they talk about “correcting relative prices” and that this implies “raising rates and the exchange rate.” Although they acknowledge that “the entire program needs to be calibrated.”
In all this combo there are those who think that it will be necessary to compensate the most vulnerable sectors in order “not to be ejected from the Government.” For this, they consider it necessary to carry out an “income policy”. Although, of course, they say that you have to give it a different name.
Rodríguez Larreta and María Eugenia Vidal were the two pre-candidates for the Pro in the match. Also present were the candidates for radicalism, Gerardo Morales and Facundo Manes, as well as Miguel Ángel Pichetto, for the Federal Republican Meeting. Bullrich and Elisa Carrió missed the appointment.
Source: Ambito
