After a year-on-year drop in sales of 10.2% in the purchase of gifts for Father’s Day, the Argentine Confederation of Medium Enterprises (CAME) pointed out that lowering inflation “is not enough” to reactivate the economy.
So he did Salvador Femenía, spokesperson for the entity, after CAME released this Sunday the sales data for the celebration, which represents the worst number in business performance on Father’s Day since the pandemic.
“The 2023 date was not good either, it fell versus 2022. The result is online with what has been happening since the end of December, since the recession“, he explained, and clarified that although clothing was the only item that tested positive compared to 2023the comparison is against “a very poor base”, taking into account that the category fell up to 20% last year.
Likewise, Femenía assured that “The average ticket in transactions amounted to $31,574doubling that of last year” in a context where inflation is “very superior” as of June 2023 (276.4% year-on-year, according to Indec), and expressed that Cosmetics and perfumery had the worst performance.with a contraction of 37.4% and that stood out collective purchases between several family members to save.
“We have offers and 12 installments within the framework of the Cuota Simple plan, but It is not enough to reverse the trend. He who finances himself, thinks twice. Many are afraid of not being able to pay the fees due to insecurity about their employment. There is a framework of uncertainty“, he pointed.
“We have been on an uninterrupted curve since June 2022. Since then, we have always been down, we have never been able to recover. A stabilization plan lowers inflation. It is a necessary tool, but not sufficient for economic reactivation. There was a small recovery this month and a slight revival in April versus March, but it is not a trend. More structural measures are missing”, he claimed.
For Femenía, “there has to be a flow of investment, which could cause an increase in real wages.” “If not, we are still in nominality. The only way is that, together with credit support to encourage consumption,” he highlighted.
Regarding the approval in the Senate of the Large Investment Incentive Regime (RIGI) contemplated in the Base Law, and which was modified at the last minute, he pointed out that “there are sectors that can generate an increase in employment,” although he indicated that “SMEs would have liked to be more included”.
“We achieved a positive change with the quota that stipulates that companies that make investments greater than US$ 200 million must commit to allocating 20% of the disbursement to hiring national suppliers. But We would have liked there to be incentives with proposals for SMEs”, he insisted.
Finally, Femenía mentioned that, although the results were negative, Father’s Day sales will help slightly increase total sales of the shops at the end of the month. “Although it was negative, the proceeds will add up a little,” he concluded.
