The issues that concern the red circle and the responses of officials

(Special envoy to Mar del Plata.-) In a complex economy (to put it mildly) such as Argentina, it is not surprising that businessmen are on the lookout for information that provides clues about the future of official policies. In this sense, one of the meetings that generated the most expectations within the framework of the business meeting that takes place in Mar del Plata was the reserved lunch that more than 30 company leaders had with the president of the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic (BCRA), Santiago Bausiliand the Energy and Production coordinators of the Ministry of Economy, Daniel Gonzalez and Juan Pazoin that order.

The officials did not make a presentation and limited themselves to answering the numerous questions from the businessmen. The head of the BCRA expanded on how the authorities managed to digest the monetary imbalance who received the management of the president Javier Mileias far as he could know Scope.

The person responsible for monetary policy also referred to the favorable prospects that open the expansion of credit for the private sector. Regarding the recurring questions about the opening of the stocks, Bausili reiterated to the businessmen gathered at the IDEA colloquium that the official management does not manage times but objectives and that They will continue to dismantle restrictions, but in a context that does not imply risks.

For his part, Pazo referred to the progress that the Treasury Palace is making in terms of deregulations to improve competitiveness. The coordinator highlighted that it will be important to focus on the opening of markets for the export of Argentine products.

The departure of Chirillo de Energía

Meanwhile, the meeting coincided with the departure of Eduardo Rodríguez Chirillo from the position of Secretary of Energy – he was replaced by Maria Tettamanti-, a topic on which González was consulted. The official responded that no significant changes in management are expected. In this regard, he indicated that they asked Chirillo to continue to collaborate with the team in an advisory role.

Likewise, concern about energy supply during the summer was one of the topics about which businessmen raised the most concerns. González recognized the difficulties that the system faces and stated that they are working to find solutions agreed with the private sector in the event of supply problems.

There was also talk of politics

Another lunch that aroused particular interest was the one featuring the Chief of Staff, Guillermo Francos. During the meeting (also closed), politics was at the center of the conversation.

The businessmen particularly asked about the chances of reaching agreements that would allow them to sustain the initiatives carried out by the Government. In particular, they questioned the possibility of new presidential vetoes, after the Executive Branch’s rejection of the increase for retirees and the university budget. The opinion that Francos gave is that a position has been achieved “quite consolidated” which allows the Government to have a third of the deputies to support the vetoes that may eventually be necessary.

In the morning, businessmen had the opportunity to listen to governors Rogelio Frigerio (Entre Ríos), Raúl Jalil (Catamarca), Ignacio Torres (Chubut) and Gustavo Valdés (Corrientes). The four leaders did not have a critical attitude towards the central administration, but they did raise the problem of the lack of resources for the interior. In particular, Khalil said that “We must get out of the culture of controversy”while Torres stated that “We are experiencing a historic opportunity for something revolutionary, which is the revolution of normality.”

Meanwhile, in the afternoon the wholesale inflation data was released, which showed 2%, a figure that was well received by businessmen since it is the lowest record since May 2020. Controlling the rise in prices is key , interpret company managers, so that consumption and activity begin to recover. In this sense, an important food company pointed out to Scope that its sales stopped falling in August after suffering a collapse of 12% in annual terms.

For the last day of the Colloquium this Friday, the expectation is placed on the announcements that the Minister of Deregulation may make, Federico Sturzeneggeran official who is praised by businessmen based on the task of simplification and dismantling of bureaucratic obstacles that he has been carrying out. And more in the closing that will be in charge of the president Javier Milei. The prevailing impression among businessmen is that the head of state could give a tough speech since last year, angry with IDEA, he held a counter-summit.