May 12th, 2023

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1. April inflation was 8.4%

This Friday, the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INDEC) released the result of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the month of April, which registered an increase of 8.4%; thus, it accumulates 32% so far in 2023 and 108.8% compared to the same month of last year. In this sense, the most affected items were Clothing and footwear (10.8%), Food and non-alcoholic beverages (10.1%) and Restaurants and hotels (9.9%). It should be noted that this month’s inflation is above the forecasts of the Minister of Economy, Sergio Massa, who at the end of last year had assured that inflation would be reduced by this time of the year.

La Nación: Inflación de abril de 2023: fue 8,4% y acumula 108,8% en 12 meses

2. The AmCham Summit was held

Last Tuesday, the Summit of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Argentina (AmCham) was held, an event that brought together public and private sector leaders to discuss the public and political agenda and the role of business in the country. The Summit was attended by the national Minister of Economy, Sergio Massa, who stated that “exposing differences in primaries is a very serious mistake, it generates uncertainty,” in relation to the possibility that the ruling party will present different candidates in the primary elections (PASO). He also referred to the drought that affected the agricultural sector and how it impacted the stability of the international reserves of the Central Bank (BCRA). The Summit was also attended by Buenos Aires Mayor Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, presidential hopeful of the party Juntos por el Cambio. Larreta promised a dollar without restrictions and zero deficits within one year, while Patricia Bullrich, presidential candidate in the same political space also expressed support for a unified exchange rate, the use of the dollar as a transaction currency and reforms in the labor framework. The event was also attended by Horacio Rosatti, president of the Supreme Court of Justice; Daniel Scioli, Argentina’s ambassador to Brazil; and Juan Schiaretti, governor of Córdoba and presidential candidate, among others.

Infobae: Sergio Massa se mostró en contra de que haya PASO en el Frente de Todos: “Exponer las diferencias en una primaria es un gravísimo error”
Perfil: AmCham: Rodríguez Larreta prometió dólar sin cepo y déficit cero en un año
Infobae: Patricia Bullrich dio detalles de su plan de Gobierno: fin del cepo, reforma laboral, dólar único y una dura respuesta a Cristina Kirchner

3. The Supreme Court of Justice suspended the elections in the provinces of San Juan and Tucumán

On Tuesday afternoon, the Supreme Court of Justice issued precautionary measures by which it suspended the provincial elections in the districts of Tucumán and San Juan with five days left in both cases. The argument behind both measures was that the intention of Sergio Uñac (San Juan) and Juan Manzur (Tucumán) to run as vice-governor candidates is “contrary to the periodicity in the functions required by the republican form of government established by the National Constitution,” given that in both cases they have held the provincial first magistracy since 2015 and before that they were vice-governors. The Court’s decision was widely criticized by senior leaders of the ruling party Frente de Todos. President Alberto Fernández called it a “clear interference in the democratic process and the autonomy of the provinces,” while the governor of the province of Buenos Aires, Axel Kicillof, said that the “Supreme Court is a disgrace and is running over Argentine democracy.” On the other hand, Juan Manzur, announced in a press conference that he will not compete again for a provincial position and asked the Supreme Court to cancel the precautionary measure that suspended the elections.

La Nación: La Corte Suprema suspendió las elecciones de Tucumán y San Juan que se hacían este domingo
Infobae: Juan Manzur declinó su candidatura a vicegobernador de Tucumán y lo reemplazará Miguel Acevedo

4. The national government officially raised the minimum income to pay taxes

By means of Decree 267/2023, published this Thursday in the Official Gazette, the Ministry of Economy made official the increase of the minimum income to pay taxes to a monthly gross salary of AR$506,230, inclusive. Also, in the months in which an individual’s gross monthly salary exceeds AR$506,230 and is less than or equal to AR$583,851, withholding agents will compute a special increased deduction. The purpose of this update is “to prevent the tax burden from neutralizing the benefits derived from the salary policy.”

Infobae: Impuesto a las ganancias: el Gobierno avanzó con la suba del piso y 250.000 empleados dejarán de pagar

5. The Central Bank made temporary advances to the Treasury

This week, the Central Bank (BCRA) again issued currency for transfers to the Treasury amounting to AR$ 140 billion. The BCRA’s monetary financing to the Treasury totals AR$ 370 billion so far this year and is very close to the AR$ 372.8 billion allowed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) according to Argentina’s agreement with the fund. Thus, it is expected that this increase in issuance will further drive inflation.

Cronista: El BCRA volvió a emitir pesos para asistir al Tesoro y ya llegó al límite que fijó el FMI