Following strong opposition criticism for the presidential veto of the retirement law, the legislator supported the course set by the head of state and his economic team, led by the Minister of Economy, Luis Caputo. In this regard, He rejected the idea that the reduction in public spending is based on a cut to the pension system and the loss of citizens’ purchasing power.
“In no way is Milei’s government making adjustments on the elderly or adjustments on the workers or adjustments on the beneficiaries of plans” Espert stressed, and assured that, comparatively “Compared to the end of last year, we are doing better and better.”
“Retirees, those on fixed incomes, salaried workers, beneficiaries of plans are better off compared to the worst moment at the end of last year. There is no doubt about that. Official and unofficial statistics confirm it. I am not making up a story. We are coming out of the underground and we are still below the ground floor and that is valid for all economic activity,” he continued.
José Luis Espert defended Javier Milei’s economic model and denied an adjustment
While he assured that the current situation is better than at the end of 2023, The purchasing power of Argentine workers is still “below that of last year”that is, compared to the average, although he stressed that the situation “is improving.”
However, the economist asked not to blame the current government. “Are we going to blame the one who put out the fire of the broken glass, the burned walls? That is what is happening in many cases today. And that is false. And it is unfair and it is lying to the people,” he said in dialogue with the program “A confesión de parte” hosted by Romina Manguel on FM Milenium.
Days ago, to defend the presidential veto, Milei stated that pensions register a real growth of 5% in 2024. However, Espert, in contrast to the head of state, acknowledged that Now “pensions are lower than last year”although he stressed that it is not “the firefighter’s fault.” And, along those lines, he assured that “the pension system is completely bankrupt and will pay miserable pensions until we get it out of bankruptcy.”
Referring to the country, the economist said that “The house stopped burning, now it’s in shambles”but by applying Milei’s recipes “people will live better and better.” And he reiterated: “It’s the fault of those who set the country on fire before.”
Regarding the retirement law vetoed by the Executive Branch after the approval of Congress, the deputy crossed his peers, whom he accused of wanting to “destroy the backbone of the zero deficit, which is the backbone that the human race invented to end inflation.” He also spoke about the project for financing universities: “It sets a schedule for indexing salaries for university teachers that we do not know if we will be able to pay.”
On the other hand, Expert referred to the increase in the poverty in recent months, after the Catholic University of Argentina published a report that put the rate at 52% for the first half of the year. “Let’s not blame today’s poverty on the firefighter who put out the fire, because if the firefighter had not put out the fire, poverty would be 80%, not 50%,” he said.
Public spending fell 30.4% in real terms annually
In August, the real primary expenditure The accrued pensions fell by 25.9% year-on-year. Considering the first eight months, the contraction in real terms was 30.4% compared to the same period last year. In the case of pensions, there was a 9.8% real reduction in year-on-year terms and one social benefit stood out for its growth this month.
Among the accrued items with the greatest real adjustments compared to August 2023 are transfers to provinces (-67.8%), public works (-63.3%) and spending on social programs (-54.5%). On the other hand, The 24% year-on-year increase in spending on family allowances and AUH stands out, This was reflected in a report by the consulting firm Analytica.
The expenditure accrued on retirement and pensions had a reduction of 9.8% year-on-year in real terms, and considering the accumulated figure for the first eight months, the fall is 20.3% year-on-year. The spending trend coincides with the evolution of salaries, and after both hit a minimum in the first quarter, with the new adjustments and the partial recomposition for inflation, Both variables have recovered, placing them at levels slightly above those of December.
Source: Ambito
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