The Argentine Industrial Union asked Luis Caputo to review “case by case” the non-automatic licenses for imports. He did so this Monday at the working lunch that the entity’s executive committee shared with the Minister of Economy. The same suggestion was made regarding the withholdingsafter the Government announced a general increase in export duties up to 15%. The head of the Treasury Palace promised a “brutal tax cut”. There is expectation for the bond to cover the commercial debt.
After noon, Caputo arrived at the headquarters of the UIA located on Avenida de Mayo, in downtown Buenos Aires. He was accompanied by the Secretary General of Coordination, Juan Pazoand that of Commerce, Pablo Lavigne. The choice of officials who accompanied the Minister is not coincidental: access to productive inputs, trade administration and the new tax scheme are part of the sector’s hot agenda.
All these aspects were addressed at the meeting, while enjoying a three-course lunch: green leaf mattress with burrata as a starter, tenderloin with malbec sauce and cooked vegetables for the main course and brownie with ice cream or seasonal fruits, depending on the taste of each diner, as a dessert. Although the backdrop is the “recessive data” that Funes de Rioja recognized are beginning to appear “in the micro”.
By coffee time, the president of the UIA confirmed to Ambit in a press conference that raised a request to study “case by case” the continuity of non-automatic licenses used to monitor imports. She did it after the chancellor Diana Mondino stated at the last industrial conference that the more than 12,000 in force to date would be eliminated.
The president of the UIA recognized that there are some of these tariff positions for which a high level of protection is not justified, but that there are others that should be studied in depth. From the Government’s perspective, a high exchange rate, like the current one, should be enough to safeguard the productive links. In that sense, in Economics assure that exchange competitiveness will remain at these levels in real terms.
Caputo promised a “brutal tax cut”
The entity conveyed the same concern regarding the general increase in withholdings announced last week by the Minister of Economy. The measure, which has not yet been published in the official bulletin and, everything indicates, will be discussed in Congress, had a first reverse gear. The Secretary of Bioeconomy, Fernando Vilella confirmed that a group of regional economies will continue with 0% of export duties.
While The UIA awaits a response to its request to study the issue “sector by sector”, the Chamber of the Oil Industry of the Argentine Republic (CIARA) warns that the increase in export duties on soy by-products such as oils and flour that was established to compensate for the backward movement in regional economies “will severely limit the flow of foreign currency ”. One more conflict in the face of the large harvest and the income of dollars that are urgently needed for the coffers of the Central Bank.
The Government assures that the greater fiscal pressure will be temporary. Even in the middle of lunch Caputo promised industrialists a “brutal tax cut” and a “wave of deregulation”. Although he acknowledged that the priority is to reach zero deficit and that is the basis of the collection measures that were announced in these hours. He asked to maintain the dialogue.
Commercial debt
At the lunch that lasted more than an hour, the economic team also provided details about what the Bonus for the Reconstruction of a Free Argentina (BOPREAL), which those importers who register commercial debt will be able to access. This is the instrument integrable in pesos and payable in dollars that the BCRA will issue.
According to industrialists, BOPREAL is until now the only option that the Government put on the table to organize liabilities abroad that companies generated this year due to difficulties in accessing the exchange market. “We’ll see how companies receive it, but it’s either that or putting in our own dollars.”, they said. The UIA approached officials with some proposals to make the bond “more attractive.”
During the meeting, the new payment scheme for access to the flow of input imports was also detailed. There are terms of 30, 60, 90, 120 and 180 days depending on the category and product in question. While the president tells the population as a whole that “there is no money,” the economic team warns businessmen: “There are no dollars.”
Source: Ambito
