The Minister of Economy, Sergio Massa, announced an agreement with the chambers of the pharmaceutical sector to set a price increase ceiling for prescription drugs of 3.8% per month, which will apply from December to March 31, 2023. .
The cap will be set from the last suggested retail price of November 2022 and includes a trigger clause so that, in the event that inflation exceeds 5%, companies can apply an increase up to one point below the INDEC measurement the following month, Economía reported in a statement.
“The inflation data reassures us because we have been following a path of inflation reduction. We took office four months ago with seven and a half points and we have been gradually managing to lower inflation”, stressed the minister during the meeting held at the Palacio de Hacienda.
“We are not satisfied, we have to continue lowering inflation and that requires meeting the goals of the fiscal order, the accumulation of reserves to strengthen our currency and propose a development model with inclusion,” he added. Massa, who was accompanied by the Secretary of Commerce, Matías Tombolini.
In this context, he stressed that “medications in people’s daily lives are super important”, for which he thanked “the effort” of the businessmen in participating in this agreement.
“We are convinced that we have the responsibility of ordering Argentina macroeconomically; In the meantime, we have the task of building together a path to lower prices that gives people peace of mind and that allows us to recover income”indicated.
And he highlighted: “With the incorporation of medicines we are in almost 40 thousand products and goods of daily life that are within the framework of a price agreement program and with a path forward: food, beverages, personal hygiene products and cleaning, chemicals, aluminum, cardboard, clothing (clothing and footwear)”.
For his part, Tombolini stressed that “this agreement is very important because it is a sign that builds predictability for companies, but above all, for those who buy the medicines every month.”
“This step means continuing to consolidate the minister’s road map from the day he took office. This week we closed agreements with different sectors of the Argentine economy such as cell phones, public supplies, sports shoes, and now we have managed to close this one, which is also essential for us,” said the secretary.
According to Economy, the price agreement does not include over-the-counter medicines, although it does include those sold under prescription.
The Undersecretary for Trade Policy and Management, Germán Cervantes, and the Undersecretary for Policies for the Internal Market, Anastasia Daicich participated in the meeting for the Secretary of Commerce; while the Undersecretary of Medicines, Natalia Grinblat, was present for the Ministry of Health.
The president of the Industrial Chamber of Argentine Pharmaceutical Laboratories (Cilfa), Eduardo Macchiavello, and the representative of that organization, Claudio Riganti, also attended.
The Business Chamber of Pharmaceutical Laboratories (Cooperala) represented its president, Marcelo Burstein; the manager, Juan José Marconi; the secretary, Jorge Besser; the member Fernando Casais; and the account reviewer Mario Weintraub.
Meanwhile, for the Argentine Chamber of Medicinal Specialties (Caeme) participated the president, Gastón Domínguez Caetano; the Executive Director, Carlos Escobar Herrán; and the Director of External Affairs, Daniela Raposo.
Carlos Soto (Argentine Federation of Pharmacy Chambers), Carlos Aranguren (Argentine Pharmaceutical Confederation), Damián Sudano (Pharmaceutical Federation), and Federico Fischer (Argentine Pharmacy Owners Association) also participated.
