“Congratulations to all the heroes who are here, who can produce despite the brutal tax burden,” said Milei in front of a group of producers at the Expoagro 2024 agricultural exhibition this Tuesday. He was applauded. The agribusiness sector represents around 70% of Argentine exports, according to the Secretary of Bioeconomy (Agriculture), Fernando Vilella.
Milei visited the site accompanied by ministers and other authorities from his government, signaling his administration’s support for the field. He said that Argentine inflation is falling, as a result of the zero public deficit, which he said has been achieved in his first stage of government. “The process of falling inflation is strong and (the index) should be 15% in February,” he stated. In January, inflation was 20.6%. Last month’s official result will be released next Tuesday (12) by the National Institute of Statistics and Census (Indec, equivalent to IBGE).
According to the Argentine president, the zero deficit and the drop in inflation could pave the way for tax cuts. Rural producers (many Milei voters) hope that the government will reduce the so-called ‘retenciones’, which are taxes on exports, mainly on grains. The concern in the different branches of the Argentine economy is about recession. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) should fall 2.8% this year. Economists estimate that the drop could be even greater, reaching 4% of GDP, as stated by Gustavo Perego, from the economic consultancy Abeceb, in Buenos Aires.
The Expoagro exhibition is the epicenter of the sector for the purchase and sale of agricultural machinery, for example, as well as other businesses in the sector. At the meeting, in the town of San Nicolas, in the province of Buenos Aires, there were ministers of Agriculture from the Southern Cone countries for the first meeting of the year of the Southern Agricultural Council (known by the acronym CAS).