The president of the Chamber of Commerce and Services of Uruguay (CCSUy), Julio César Lestido, expressed his opinion on various agenda items of the Uruguay at a press conference, among which are the exchange difference with Argentina and social security reform.
Since the inauguration of the Argentine president, Javier Mileiand the economic measures taken by his government – which caused prices to rise in the neighboring country – the exchange gap with Argentina managed to reduce and businesses began to notice the difference. “The situation is beginning to improve,” Lestido said in a press conference he attended. Ambit.
Meanwhile, he claimed that the situation could not be improved from the Uruguay and it was something that the sector had been advancing. “Not only did we say it, but the shopping centers said it throughout last year and maybe a little bit in 2022 as well,” he explained.
In that sense, he stressed that the only solution that the Uruguay They were palliative measures. “Any measure taken we would have to take into account that it was a palliative measure,” he explained. “The problem was on the other side and now that Argentina begins to settle its accounts – or is trying to settle its accounts -, the difference is already beginning to be noticed,” he added.
The search for competitiveness and friendly prices for citizens
In an electoral context, the chamber assures that they spent the entire year and previous years presenting projects with the aim of transforming Uruguay in a more competitive country.
“We want a competitive country and for that we have to attack several areas. One is the State, trying to make it more agile and working on those things that mean we can gain efficiency. On the other hand, we seek to modernize, to open ourselves more, more and more, to have more partners, better conditions to be able to negotiate with the world. A world that today appears very unstable but at the same time very competitive,” explained the president of the chamber.
For its part, regarding the values of products such as those of hygiene, which are the ones who have the greatest prices. “We have to arrive with the best products, in the best possible conditions. That is what we have to offer as a Chamber of Trade, As entrepreneurs and as a country, we have to offer our citizens the best product in the best conditions. This also refers to prices. So, we will always be working on that focus, on being able to offer more and better,” he noted.
The controversy over social security reform
The meeting of signatures by the PIT-CNT for the social security reform It will be a problem for the president of the chamber. “We support and sustain the reform, we support the Social Security Law, because we understand that it is the future of the country,” Lestido assured. “A change needed to be made,” he added.
On the other hand, he stressed that, if the plebiscite to modify the law is approved, all of Uruguay would suffer. “It would affect the entire country, not just the companies. If you see that in Uruguay we have a low rate of birth rate, The question is how we are going to continue financing this issue,” he explained.
In that sense, he assured that the best way is to increase the working age at 65 years old. “The other way is unviable. We cannot burden people with more things, we cannot put more VAT to people in order to finance the social security system. We can no longer ask employers and employees themselves to continue contributing more than they are already contributing to the welfare system. EPS” he insisted.
Source: Ambito
