In the midst of the strong inflationary pressure that the country is going through, the Minister of Economy, Sergio Massa, seeks to extend the program of Fair Prices and add new sectors to contain the escalation of prices.
Within this framework, the economic team reached agreements of Fair Prices with mass consumption and fuel companies, and is now negotiating with the footwear industry to join The initiative.
In this way, the Minister of Economy, Sergio Massa, together with the Secretary of Industry and Productive Development, José Ignacio de Mendiguren, and the Secretary of Commerce, Matías Tombolini, met with representatives of the industry to establish the conditions of the agreement of Fair Prices for the sector.
Nevertheless, the Government would seek not only a price agreement, but a reduction in them from the beginning of the program and, from there, establish the reference values for the months in which the negotiation is in force.
“We are trying to enter the agreement with a decrease in prices. That the prices of footwear go down and, from there, establish some modality that gives predictability. It may be an agreement similar to that of textiles, but it is still being negotiated”, they indicated from the economic team.
If the companies manage to sign the agreement, which is expected to happen next week, in exchange, the Government would commit to providing the dollars they need to import inputs, as has been done with the rest of the sectors.
In addition to the footwear industry, the economic team is conducting negotiations with the metallurgical industry and with tourism companies so that they can join to the program which was released in early November.
Footwear increased 103.1% so far this year
According to the price index published by INDEC (National Institute of Censuses and Statistics), until October, footwear and clothing increased 103.1%, against inflation of 76%; while the year-on-year rise amounts to 121.5%.
For this reason, Massa closed an agreement with 60 clothing brands to keep prices unchanged, from October to December and, from there, set the increases according to the evolution of the official dollar, which they also expect to happen with the footwear.
