1. Changes in the chairmanship of the Frente de Todos caucus in the House of Representatives

The head of the Frente de Todos caucus in the National Chamber of Deputies, Máximo Kirchner, resigned to his position last Monday. According to Kirchner, son of Vice President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, his resignation is due a disagreement with the “used strategy” and with the “obtained results” during the negotiations being carried out with the International Monetary Fund. However, the former president of the ruling party’s caucus stated that he will remain in his seat. Even though Máximo Kirchner responds politically to the Vice President of the Nation, the Deputy explained it was not a decision shared by her. The new leader will be Germán Martínez, who was chief advisor to Agustín Rossi, former Minister of Defense of the Nation, and is considered close to President Alberto Fernández.

Página 12: Texto completo del comunicado de renuncia de Máximo Kirchner a la presidencia del Bloque del FdT

2. President Alberto Fernández visits Russia and China

On Tuesday, President Alberto Fernández started his presidential tour on Russia and China. This presidential tour occurs in the context of an increased military presence in the border between Russia and Ukraine, and in the midst of the Argentinian negotiations with the International Monetary Fund. On Thursday, the President met with Vladimir Putin, his Russian counterpart. At the end of the meeting, Fernández stated that Argentina “has to stop being so dependent on the IMF and the U.S. It has to open the way to other places, and it seems to me that Russia has a very important place.” After his visit to Moscow, the President of the Nation arrived to Beijing to attend the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games. On Monday, February 7th, Fernández will hold a meeting with the Chinese President Xi Jinping.

La Nación: En medio de las tensiones, Alberto Fernández partió al encuentro de Putin y Xi Jinping: los detalles de la gira
La Nación: Alberto Fernández, con Vladimir Putin en Rusia: “La Argentina tiene que dejar de tener esa dependencia tan grande que tiene con el FMI y EE.UU.”

3. The national government extended the installment program Ahora 12

Last Monday, through the Resolution 34/2022, the Secretariat of Commerce headed by Roberto Feletti extended the Ahora 12 program until June 30^th, making its term extendable. This program offers the possibility of purchasing domestic goods in 3, 6, 12, 18, and 24 installments. Although no new items were added, the possibility of buying in 30 installments was removed, since, according to the Ministry of Productive Development, there was a “low incidence” in the use of such installments. At the same time, Decree 54/2022 made official the appointment of former national deputy Liliana Schwindt as Undersecretary of Actions for the Defense of Consumers. This organism depends on the Secretary of Domestic Trade. The Secretary said about Schwindt’s appointment that “it is a very relevant contribution, at a time when it is necessary to consolidate a price policy to respond to Argentines”. Schwindt will be in charge of monitoring prices and control programs and policies such as “Precios Cuidados.”

Infobae: Ahora 12 renovado: qué productos están incluidos y qué tasas hay que pagar para aprovechar los planes de hasta 24 cuotas
Infobae: El kirchnerismo sumó a una funcionaria en un área sensible del equipo económico

4. The government renewed the price agreement for meat

The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries reached an understanding with refrigerated warehouses and supermarkets to renew the agreement establishing affordable prices in the domestic market for seven popular cuts of meat. Therefore, the Cortes Cuidados program will continue throughout 2022, with a first stage running from February 7th to April 7th. At the same time, the Ministry of Domestic Trade held a meeting with representatives of markets and stores for the implementation of +Precios Cuidados, the new price agreement program that came into force last month and includes wholesale and retail businesses.

5. Year-on-year tax collection grew in January

According to data from the National Ministry of Economy, tax collection in January 2022 was 1.17 trillion pesos (USD 11.16 billion), 51.6% more than the 772,860 million pesos collected in the same month of the previous year. The growth was mainly due to social security taxes (+64.6%), Profits (+59.5%), and taxes associated with economic activity (+54.4%). The real increase was 1%. Thus, January’s tax collection exceeded the inflation figure.

La Nación: La recaudación impositiva superó levemente en enero a la inflación