Officials from the Ministry of Commerce will begin a series of meetings with a broad group of companies that have agreements of prices current, “to readjust basic issues of the program”, especially the levels of compliance and supply. In the government, they expect the price of food in March to “experience a slowdown”, after the Consumer Price Index (CPI) reached 6.6% in February.
In government offices they are sure that “It is not in the plans to modify the conditions of the current stage of Prices Justos”, which authorizes a monthly increase of 3.2%, for a basket that exceeds 40,000 products, together with another more limited basket of fixed prices. The inflation index for February showed a “strong gap between the pattern of price increases and the real increases,” they explain.
Officials from Sergio Massa’s economic team assure that “there is not a line of companies asking to leave the program”, and explain that “the problems of runaway cost increases that companies may have” who participate in Prices Justos could have more to do with “an acceleration in the rate of rise of the official dollar that the Central Bank enables.”
In Economy explain that imported inputs “they are paid with foreign currency at the official price” and, according to official data, the companies that are part of the price agreement with the government “They accessed 3,500 million dollars in 4 months to pay for imports,” they said.
Regarding the meetings, they explained that it will be about “Different sector tables”, with a specific agenda for each item, in which the “Undersecretaries of Domestic Trade, Foreign Trade and Defense of Consumer Rights” will be present.. They also assured that “all companies that have current programs” will be there.
