With the closing of the record of exports of soybean meal and oil, the governor of Santa Fe, Omar Perotti, did not disguise his dissatisfaction with the imminent increase in withholdings. He understands that there is no equanimity, that there is no scope for discussion. That decisions arrive encrypted. Infobae consulted the governor of Santa Fe: “Just as I criticized this measure in the government of former President Macri, I do it now. It doesn't work. And in this context of war, we should be more creative than ever, pushing forward the largest wheat production program in our history, encouraging producers to sow.” The statement by the governor of Santa Fe is in line with what was said yesterday by Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi: “If the conflict continues, worsens or even ends, the concern is not only in terms of energy, but in finding alternative supplies to the Russians in raw materials, in particular with regard to agri-food sector, one of the answers that we must naturally give is to import from other countries: the United States, Canada, Argentina.”
The truth is that the field is always on duty. If gasoline goes up, so does food. There is no correlate either in banks, nor in oil, nor in mining, when it comes to sharing efforts. Those close to Minister Julián Domínguez justified what is to come as “the least painful way to avoid the increase in withholding of producers”.
Faced with the increase in the two-point differential for withholding to the industry to set up a trust and lower the price of bread, Jorge Chemes, head of the CRA told this media outlet: “If they take something out of the industry, it is automatically transferred to the price of slate, that is, they end up paying it producers, The government will deny it as it has happened throughout history, but we end up paying for it ourselves. As is the case with the wheat trust, which is also a covert retention.”
In short, the amount that the Government would collect with this measure is approximately USD 400 million, about USD 34 billion. Too little to stop the country's much-needed inflow of foreign exchange. And in key provinces such as Córdoba and Santa Fe, it discourages investment, industrialization and, therefore, added value.
Rep. Alejandro “Topo” Rodriguez, former Minister of Agriculture of Buenos Aires, consulted, said: “They are conservatives. They discuss adding value in the countryside, but with their policies they encourage represmarization. They did so with the latest Biofuels Act, they will also do so with flour and soybean oil. They talk about industrializing rurality and deindustrializing it.”
After the half-sanction of the agreement with the IMF in Deputies, where last Wednesday morning President Alberto Fernández marched to reject it and to default with the IMF, he won with a large number of votes from his sector plus those of the opposition, the magic number to strengthen himself: 202. This number is key to approval this week in the Senate of the Nation. The Campora, militating the “no” with the Vice-President (there are specific cases of deputies called by CFK to vote negatively), managed to influence 25% of the ruling party, which translated into Peronism can represent 20% of voters.
This chronicler talked to many actors who have known CFK and Alberto Fernández for years. It is likely that no one will leave the government. The divorced are likely to continue to live under the same roof of the coalition. The big issue for President Fernández, so that his government does not implode after the agreement with the IMF, is to start the economy and stabilize it.
This chronicler understands that measures such as those announced are a two-way play. Towards the IMF, which welcomes an increase in withholding. And in a key week, towards Christianity, in response to the question that the vice president asks to make it heard: who pays for the adjustment? In its conception, the answer is “the field and the powerful”.
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