Since Javier Milei assumed the presidency and his adjustment policy, it had negative effects on the economy of the majority of Riojans who, month after month, see how their purchasing power decreases and work in various sectors, both provincial and national. , is threatened by the possibility of layoffs and layoffs, despite the efforts made to try to stop these measures. So far in 2024, approximately 10,000 jobs have been lost.
One of the causes of uncertainty among workers is the paralysis of public works and housing construction that caused 9,000 jobs to be lost in La Rioja in this area. In percentage terms, La Rioja is one of the provinces with the most pronounced drop in construction.
In the provincial Industrial Park, which was reactivated during the administration of Governor Ricardo Quintela and factories and jobs were recovered, the adjustment also had an impact when 389 layoffs, 350 suspensions and the definitive closure of three factories.
The delegations of national organizations in La Rioja were no exception and joined the wave of massive layoffs throughout the country: 120 workers from ANSES, INADI, SENASA, INTA, National Parks, the Secretariat of Family Agriculture, ENACOM and 50 from the former Ministry of Social Development were left on the streets. There was also the closure of the 17 Correo Argentino offices located in the province, which led to more than 58 people being left without work.
The private business sector is not exempt from this reality. The increase in electricity and gas rates for businesses, companies, producers and residents and the increase in food products and supplies caused a decrease in consumption, low sales, the closure of businesses and the dismissal of 42 people in the gastronomic sector, 51 in transportation, 15 in casinos, 20 in the metallurgical sector, 5 in businesses dedicated to the sale of footwear and 11 in the Chango Más supermarket. Added to this are 5 companies with crisis preventive processes.
Inflationary process in the province
In La Rioja, during the period between March 2023 and the same month of 2024 The accumulated inflation in the region that makes up the province of La Rioja was 277.3%. In the region that makes up La Rioja in April it did not decrease and was 9.1%.
This generalized situation is aggravated in La Rioja by the non-sending of funds that legally and legitimately correspond to the province.
According to the report from the Congressional Budget Office, non-automatic transfers during the first quarter of 2024 were reduced by 89.5%. La Rioja, Formosa and La Pampa had the largest reductions.
In addition, there is the cessation of the sending of funds that have to do with the extra co-shareable funds that correspond to 1%, lost by both Buenos Aires and La Rioja in the year 89. The extra funds are not a discretionary measure, but rather They are like compensation for the point just lost, something that all previous governments understood and respected but that did not happen with Javier Milei at the head of the National Executive.
Poorest in the entire country
In the first period of 2023, The poverty percentage in the province had a slight decrease to 39.6 below the national average which was 40.1 (something that had been repeated since 2019); while In the second semester the indicator rose to 51.6, above the national average. It should be noted that the index rose in almost all of the country’s provinces (with the exception of two) due to the increase in prices after the PASO and the exchange runs caused by the speculation of some economic groups after the triumph of the current president.
It is necessary to emphasize that at the end of 2023, in Argentina there was an additional impact where a devaluation of the exchange rate and the liberation of prices was promoted with inflation in December of 25.5%. This represented a real drop in the salary of workers in the public and private sectors.
The Argentine Social Debt Observatory (ODSA) of the Argentine Catholic University carried out a simulation based on the data available as of the third quarter of 2023 and the evolution of the basic basket and labor income – both data published by INDEC – and estimated that in January 2024 (one month after the inauguration of the current president) poverty affected 57.4% of the population, while indigence increased to 15%.
food distribution
Official government data confirms that the distribution of food about to expire was not made according to the food emergency of the sectors with the largest population at risk, but rather on a discretionary basis and in favor of the provinces allied with La Libertad Avanza.
Of the 395,781 kilos of powdered milk that will be distributed in the country, La Rioja is one of the districts where the Argentine Army trucks will not arrive directly.
