On a day marked by the jump of the blue dollar to $1,365 and the widening of the exchange gap to 50%, the Minister of Economy, Luis Caputoassured that the sharp rise in contributions is “noise” linked to the opposition, he pointed out against the consultants “serial devaluators” and asked businessmen to join the money laundering included in the Bases law that Congress must still approve.
“These noises that the exchange rate is escaping because it went to $1,300, we arrived at $1,180, rose 10% in six months. To the previous government it went from $60 to $1,200, rose 20 times. There are no more journalists crying on television, in those four years they lost social sensitivity, they even had enough money to go with their families to the World Cup in Qatar,” Caputo ranted. And he said ironically: “Now it is a problem that in six months it moved 10%”.
The minister gave these definitions this Tuesday at the closing of the annual convention of the Construction Chamber (Camarco) that was held at the La Rural property, where earlier the former vice minister of Economy Emmanuel Alvarez Agis warned that “Investors will not come until they lift the stocks” and estimated that without external investment “all aid from the IMF or other credit organizations will be useless.”
In the afternoon, Caputo raised the towel and questioned the economists who criticize the exchange rate anchor and ask to abandon the 2% monthly devaluation to avoid the loss of Central Bank reserves and eliminate exchange restrictions. “For serial devaluators, who believe that the only way out is to continue devaluing, the way is to sharply lower the tax burden,” he stated.
The official was received at 6:30 p.m. on stage by the head of the chamber, Gustavo Weiss, who in a brief speech warned about the decision to paralyze all public works and the loss of “more than 100,000 jobs.” at the same time he asked the government for “dialogue.” In turn, the official. blamed previous management for inherited problemsassured that there are already signs of reactivation and justified the adjustment measures.
“Kirchnerism did not take us to Germany, it took us to Venezuela”, held. And then he said that in May the “best” numbers were seen, among which the fiscal surplus stood out, the drop in inflation to 4.2% and the “signs of recovery” in March and April and that in May “the “deepened”, such as the Construya index (sale of construction supplies), which rose 4.8% last month, as described.
Faced with the claims of the business community, the minister explained that “painful measures had to be takenbut that they were necessary, because inflation had to be reduced and for that we had to achieve fiscal balance.” In that context, he said that it could not continue to be issued to finance spending and that of the 2,700 public works, 80% were public works. minors. “That is not public work, it is politics,” he asserted.
Luis Caputo with Gustavo Weiss Photo Juano Tesone
Caputo also referred to Indec numbers that on Monday showed a drop in GDP of 5% year-on-year in the first quarter, and denied that the drop in inflation was due to the recession. “The seasonally adjusted number, first quarter compared to the last of 2023 fell 2.6% and the fourth quarter of 2023 compared to the third of that year fell the same, 2.5%. Inflation exploded in that period and we are at 4 %,” he explained.
Finally, he asked business owners to “understand” the restrictions and took the opportunity to pass the cap. “How is it reversed? With you supporting the model. Where the economy starts to grow, we are going to give you back in lower taxes,” he said. “Now they have tax and money laundering, it is a historic opportunity for them to regularize the situation of their companies and employees,” he concluded.
