Merchants demand more measures to face the situation. Uruguayans already spent US$600 million in the first semester.
The exchange difference with Argentina continues to be a limitation for coastal businesses, whose sales fell by up to 60% due to the price gap between Uruguay and the neighboring country, given the constant crossings to make purchases, as warned from the Salto Commercial and Industrial Center.
In turn, from the Jump CCI showed their concern about the expense of Uruguayans in Argentine territory, which in the first semester reached almost 600 million dollars according to data from the Development Studies Center (CED), while they warned that it could reach 1,000 million dollars in the year.
This was stated by the president of the CCI, Vera Facchin, who pointed out in dialogue with Informativo Uruguay that, depending on the items, the sales drops of the stores range from 40% to 60%.
The situation worries the sector since “it continues to worsen,” he warned Facchin, who in any case valued government measures such as the reduction in the Imesi for gasoline and the exemption of taxes for companies. In any case, he asked that these initiatives be reviewed “because what works today is obsolete tomorrow” and proposed authorizing micro-imports in border businesses, while criticizing the lack of customs controls.
The exchange difference led to lower VAT collection
Due to the lower spending of Uruguayans in the country and the constant crossings to buy in Argentina, the collection of VAT fell 1.71% in the quarter, reaching 24,169 million pesos in July, according to a survey carried out by the Chamber of Commerce and Services of Uruguay (CCSUy), which used data from the DGI.
This situation arises from the drop in consumption of goods and services in the domestic market, something that is not surprising, since the consulting firm Exante revealed that Uruguayans’ spending on Argentina will take half of the growth and even the Minister of Economy and Finance, Azucena Arbeleche, He admitted that these purchases “harm growth and revenue.”
Source: Ambito
