Argentina (writing critical voices) In line with the objectives agreed with the International Monetary Fund, the National Government It will start Before the end of the year a new subsidies model for electricity and natural gas services. This decision is registered within a broader tax adjustment strategy, whose immediate objective is to reduce the deficit through a substantial cut in public spending. In particular, the focus will be put in the middle class, which until now received a considerable part of the subsidies and will be, as projected, the most affected by the changes that are coming.
The current scheme, which groups users in three categories according to their income level, will be replaced by a more restrictive mechanism: The assistance will be reserved exclusively for the most vulnerable sectors. Thus, about three million average income users will stop receiving discounts on their light bills, which will imply a significant increase in the amounts that must face month by month. In turn, the regime proposed by the National Executive It will be applied in a staggered way, with a progressive elimination of the benefits to avoid an immediate and mass impact.
The Ministry of Energy, under the leadership of María Carmen Tettamanti, has already begun to execute this transformation by applying gradual sales in residential discounts on the cost of energy. Official statistics show that, until last December, about 9.5 million homes had some type of electricity subsidy, of which 3.2 million corresponded to level 3 (average revenues). In the case of gas, the total was 5.3 million subsidized users, including 2.2 million middle class. The new system, however, will exclude the latter, consolidating a model with more limited criteria.
The objective of National Government It is double: on the one hand, advance in the deregulation of the energy sector; on the other, reduce the weight of subsidies in public accounts. The IMF projects that the expense in this area will go from 1.1% of GDP in 2024 to 0.5% in 2025. This decline is central to reach the goals of the current agreement and consolidate the image of commitment to the fiscal discipline that the libertarian administration seeks to sustain from its arrival to power in December 2023.
In addition to the redesign of state aid, A structural reform will be promoted in the wholesale electricity market. The recent resolution 21/2025, signed by Tettamanti, authorizes companies to sign energy sale contracts directly, without going through Cammesa, the company that until now operated as a mandatory intermediary. This measure aims to reactivate a free hiring model, betting on a more competitive framework and with less state intervention. The new energy map that is emerging promises benefits for fiscal balance, although not without a significant social cost. Inform You criticism.
