The Minister of Productive Development, Matias Kulfashighlighted this Wednesday the industrial growth of 15.8% from 2021asserting that “all the engines of the economy are on” after three years of falls, which allowed the activity “is coming out of the crisis in which former President Mauricio Macri had put it”.
Industrial activity closed 2021 with an accumulated increase of 15.8% compared to the previous year, the first year in green after three years of decline and accumulates 14 consecutive months of growth, as reported by Indec on Tuesday.
In this context, Kulfas assured that “the industry is overcoming the double crisis“, and explained that manufacturing activity has not only “been well above 2020 with the pandemic, but that it is also coming out of the crisis that (former president) Mauricio Macri had put it in.”
The industry had the best December of the last 5 years.
We came out of the double crisis: that of the pandemic and the one that macrismo left us. We are putting Argentina back on its feet with more production and work.
I share with you the interview that I had in @eldestape_radio. pic.twitter.com/SzWvFNZtpS
– Matías Kulfas (@KulfasM) February 9, 2022
In addition, in dialogue with El Destape Radio, the head of the productive portfolio stressed that “this is a totally different model from Macri’s” in terms of industrial development and job creation.
“Instead of destroying jobs as happened with Macri who destroyed 169,000 jobs for us, this model creates jobs with 50,000 more than before the start of this government”said the official.
Kulfas highlighted that “15 of the 16 productive branches were in clear growth compared to 2019”, with some of them “with historical records”.
“The agricultural machinery sector had the highest production so far in the 21st century, something similar in the production of bricks, and cement is very close to the historical level of 12 million tons,” explained the minister, who also stressed the growth of the automotive and food sectors.
#DatoINDEC
The industry grew 10.1% year-on-year in December 2021 and accumulated a rise of 15.8% in the year https://t.co/Yo70uoezPo pic.twitter.com/6HYZYYFA9Q— INDEC Argentina (@INDECArgentina) February 8, 2022
Kulfas celebrated that “in the case of the industry, the best December was recorded in the last five years”, and also indicated that the sector exhibited “7% growth compared to 2019 and even a slight increase compared to 2018”.
The minister also valued the sectoral agreementssuch as those achieved in the automotive sector, where it was sought to “reduce the trade deficit, export more and that the cars manufactured have more national content.”
“Today we are with productive projects with national content of about 40%, when, at the beginning, we had less than 20%, and we have more export propensity, with about 60% of what is produced for the foreign market,” Kulfas explained.
Regarding the investmentpointed out that there are “dozens of sectors where it is already reaching very important levels”.
“Not only did it recover compared to 2020 but also in 2019 and 2018,” said the minister, and he exemplified those carried out in mining (for US$10,000 million), alternative energies and the construction sector, whose projections “indicate that this year will continue and deepen”.
For his part, the Secretary of Industry, ariel schaleaffirmed that “the industry data is very encouraging”, highlighted that “all industrial sectors grew very strongly” and praised the policies towards the sector “that allow us to give certainty to our industrialists”.
Regarding the role of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), he recalled that there is “record of financing for working capital and incorporation of machinery in very important sectors such as oil, gas and the naval chain.”
“We continue with the import substitution process, taking very good care of a scarce resource such as foreign exchange. For example, 60% of the cars patented in December were of national origin,” Schale stressed.
At a comparative level, he remarked that “last year $160,000 million were applied to industrial policy, unlike the $7,000 million that were allocated during 2019.”
