The president of the Union of Exporters of Uruguay (UEU), Facundo Marquez, got into the campaign debate facing the elections 2024 when the pre-candidates of all political parties are asked to provide details of the economic proposals, considering that “they should make clear not only what, but how.”
When specifying which possible measures it seeks clarifications, Marquez mentioned through his X account the following topics: “Lower costs, reduce deficit, promote competition, improve insertion, solve the exchange delay, modernize labor relations, etc.”
However, he was critical of the pre-candidates’ mentions of these issues, considering that they refer with “Common places”, For this reason, he insisted that “they also explain how,” alluding to possible management plans to attack the problems.
What did the official candidates say about their economic proposals?
During the official launch of his campaign, Álvaro Delgado (National Party) highlighted the improvements driven by management, after which he called for facing “a second floor of transformations” in the next 5 years “to convert Uruguay in the most developed country of Latin America”, while, in the most concrete aspect, he promised not to raise the taxes.
His main rival internally, Laura Raffo, He went further by pointing out that he will seek to “lower the cost of living” of Uruguayans, for which he anticipated that “there is room to lower taxes,” through the debureaucratization of the State. Furthermore, he urged “to favor the imports, as well as “generate more competence in the markets”, something that will result in “the generation of jobs, also with tax relief.”
Within the Coalition, one of the pre-candidates of the Colorado Party, Gabriel Gurméndez, proposed reducing the Social Security Assistance Tax (IASS) and the Personal Income Tax (IRPF), as well as the elimination of the monopoly of Ancap and the free import of fuels.
The Broad Front’s view on the economy
Meanwhile, since Wide Front They mainly questioned the exchange rate. Yamandu Orsi assured that “an exchange delay I don’t remember like this”, when referring to the value of dollar and maintained that “an expensive peso and a decreasing export volume, there is no need to explain the cocktail it generates.”
“They are the famous knobs of the economy that you have to manage with a certain balance. That’s when you have to have a plan B, it seems to me that in this case it doesn’t exist,” questioned the former mayor of Cannelloni, who avoided commenting on a possible increase in taxes.
Your internal adversary, Carolina Cosse, repeatedly questioned the government’s “lack of direction” and, although he did not define his position on taxes, he announced a reduction in Montevideo prior to her license as mayor.
On the other hand, Cosse is the only representative of the political leadership to date to have signed the plebiscite of the PIT-CNT to repeal the social security reform, an initiative that has a certain consensus in the political sphere and, mainly, is praised by economic actors and international organizations.
Source: Ambito
