The Government began to renegotiate the Fair Prices program just two days after the shock of Javier Miley in the PASO and 24 hours after the 22% devaluation of the peso. The combo left a blanket of uncertainty in all sectors of the economy and the minister Sergio Massa launched an anti-inflationary unit with the head of Customs, Guillermo Michel, to the head. His debut was with a meeting with the refrigerators and the strategy to seat them at the negotiating table was filter the alleged suspension of meat exports if the owners of the chambers were not about to reach an agreement. The management was successful, but the series of official denials left a feeling of lack of coordination.
Shortly before 2:00 p.m. this Tuesday, Customs confirmed that it was prohibiting foreign sales of bovine cuts for the next 15 days pending a price agreement with the refrigerator consortium. “Without an agreement, there will be no export permits,” said official sources, in a threatening tone. In the Palacio de Hacienda they also ratified the measure.
Some 45 minutes later, the Secretary of Agriculture, Juan Jose Bahillo, He denied the decision in his account Twitter. “Our responsibility as public officials is to bring certainty to the productive sectors and peace of mind to the people. From the Economy we are negotiating the prices of meat for the internal market,” he wrote and later clarified in another post: “It is important to clarify that there are no export suspensions of meats of the Argentines”. Minutes later, he deleted the tweet and wrote the same message again, but in a single entry and without the verb “clarify”.
After 3:30 p.m., the head of the Argentine Meat Exporters Consortium (ABC), Mario Ravettinomet at the Customs headquarters with Michel and Bahillo. “We are working with the sector on a volume and price agreement to supply the domestic market and sustain exports,” said the official that Massa enthroned as head of the team anti redial
The confirmation and subsequent denial seemed like a reversal or an improvisation of the Economy. But hours later Ravettino confirmed to Letter P what the meeting arose after the news of the alleged suspensionTherefore, it validates the hypothesis that it was a coordinated entanglement strategy of the Economy to force meat merchants to discuss a new price path and reissue the seven “careful cuts” of the program. “It was necessary,” said a source familiar with the talks.
The increases in the price of meat were one of the drivers of inflation in the last two months. The increases came running behind the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and in the sector they assure that they are still delayed by 30%. After the result of the STEP, its consequent uncertainty, the devaluation and the exchange rate run, in the refrigerators “there is no price”, warned Ravettino. “Up to now there is a lack of supply in finance. There is going to be some increase but taking into account the drop in per capita consumption and that the consumer is not going to validate high prices at the counter, we will have to see how much the transfer is,” he clarified when asked by this medium.
In the coming weeks, the anti-remark command created by Massa to moderate the passthrough devaluation will monitor prices to reach an agreement. It will also meet with supermarkets, food, oil and other companies. The decision of the head of the Treasury runs from the center of the negotiations to the Secretary of Commerce, Matthias Tombolini, and add to Gabriel Rubinstein (Deputy Minister of Economy) and Carlos Castagnetohead of the AFIP.
Official sources assured that by integrating these areas The Government has “more tools” to offer in exchange with the private sector at the time of pressing so that the increases to the consumer are more suitable. As this medium anticipated, there will be tax discounts for companies that enter into the agreement and a letter from the BCRA to guarantee import operations in their production chains as a bargaining chip.
