The Nation’s real investment in the provinces fell 84.4% between January and May 2024, according to a report published by Politikon Consulting. In the case of Norte Grande, the decrease was even strongersince, direct real investment fell 87.6%. In that sense, La Rioja was the province that suffered the most significant decrease with -99.0% year-on-year.
In this way, the provinces of the Norte Grande with the lowest volume of national public investment in this period were Misiones, which received a total of $433 million and registered a drop of 95.6%; Formosa with a total of $257 million and a drop of -96.4% and La Rioja, which was the most affected by the national government, with a year-on-year decrease of $188 million, which meant a real drop of -99.0%.
These data take on special significance in the midst of the negotiations between the Government of Javier Milei and the governors, for the approval of the Bases Law. In recent days, the governor Ricardo Quintela announced that, On his last visit to Buenos Aires, A meeting with the national government was expected with the intention of reaching an agreement to continue with the most advanced works in La Rioja, however it was revealed that this meeting did not happen because the meeting was suspended.
On the other hand, it was also known that the Government managed to sign works transfer agreements with Chaco, Jujuy, Entre Ríos, Tucumán, Mendoza, Chubut and Neuquén, and there are negotiations with Córdoba, Catamarca and Santa Fe.
Regarding the report published by the Consultant, it revealed that among the northern provinces “there were heterogeneous results.” In this framework, the province of Jujuy stands out first, which “had a significant increase.” According to the published numbers, this jurisdiction had a real growth of 52.9%, while Santiago del Estero is the one that showed the slightest decrease with -55.2%.
The impact on Construction
The work carried out by the Consultant detected that the item “Buildings”, which represents 67% of real direct investment, suffered a real year-on-year decline of 86%. This information emerges as a consequence of the national government’s decision to paralyze public works, as one of the tools to achieve fiscal balance.
According to the report: “The peak of the fall is observed in January 2024 with -95.3% and except for February (-74.1%) in the rest of the months of the year the decline was greater than the -80% real year-on-year” .
