They anticipate a possible cooling cycle of the economy, which Milei himself recognizes, and outline their next steps. In dialogue with Ámbito, industry leaders assure that the dialogue with the future ruling party began, although timidly.
December 10, presidential inauguration day for Javier Milei, is approaching, and each sector of the economy plans its strategy for the following day. It is the case of the SMEswhich begin to outline the contingency plan to face the first months of management which, according to the elected president himself, will be “very hard”. First communications with La Libertad Avanza, staff reduction and approach to proposals, among other issues of this first stage.
Over the weekend, Milei returned to his idea of the short-term future: “What we propose is an orderly adjustment. “The impact is going to be hard,” He stated in an interview with the LN+ channel. However, he believes that the consequences will only last six months. If the necessary reforms are not carried out, he warned, the scenario would be hyperinflation with 95% of Argentines below the poverty line.
Although he insists that only the political class will be restrained, for the industrial sector the spending reduction of at least 5% of GDP that transcends from the circle of Luis Caputopossible Minister of Economy, anticipates a recessionary period for the economy. To mitigate the social climate, Milei assures that the only wallet with greater margins of action will be that of the next Ministry of Human Capital, Sandra Pettovello. But small and medium-sized companies are already beginning to outline the future of the sector.
“In our case, from the Industrial Union of the Rosario region, we speak very fluently with our employees, we have a close relationship with them, and we are organizing with our top entities both at the provincial and national level. All countries make great efforts to take care of their production and their work, so we hope to not be the exception,” says Román Guajardo, head of the entity.
For Guillermina Esmoris, owner of the Yumba company, the situation raises several nuances. On the one hand, he assures that the business community maintains a certain expectation of the removal of restrictions on foreign trade, both to collect foreign currency and to access dollars for imports. “There is a feeling of relief in that sense,” he says in dialogue with Ámbito. However, he also warns that SMEs dependent on the domestic market are on alert due to the opening of imports and possible loss of competitiveness.
For the same situation it is that Daniel Rosatotitle of Argentine Industrial SMEsannounced that this Tuesday they will release a statement requesting a meeting with the elected president to bring together the proposals that the sector needs to be able to compete, without this being to the detriment of the national industry.
The truth is that, until now, no precision about the next industrial policy was made explicit by Milei. He only claimed the “Chilean-style” unilateral opening model and his economic advisor Darío Epstein set a two-year deadline for the total opening of imports. Some approaches were sought by the SME Federal Confederation, in charge of Mauro González. Although he was unable to contact the president-elect, he held a meeting with the future Minister of the Interior, Guillermo Francos. Although he admits that it was a “good meeting,” González left without further details. “The first thing that workers ask you about is their job continuity. We expect measures aimed at maintaining employmentdiscuss income redistribution and mainly promote import substitution, but Milei never mentioned SMEs in his speech,” the businessman tells this medium.
For Leandro Mora Alfonsineconomist specializing in industry, the next period will be marked by a clearing of prices that will impact costs and a demand cooling, generating “the intention not to renew personnel, at least those in the probationary period.” Arrival at the virtuous circle that Milei guarantees will have its costs.
In this context, on Thursday the UIA will hold its 29th industrial conference. The entity defines it as “the most important annual event in the sector”, where government authorities are invited. The unknown is whether Milei will attend.
Source: Ambito
