01/13/2021 4:58 PM
Clarín.com
Economy
Updated 01/13/2021 4:58 PM
The increase in Covid-19 infections puts pressure on the Government on various fronts.
Thus, in the last few
hours
they returned to collect flight
the chances of refloating the IFE and ATP, the two central tools with which it was possible to
maintain social peace during quarantine.
The Emergency Family Income (IFE) reached
9 million people
with three payments of $ 10,000 each that were made between April and September 2020. The State allocated $ 270,000 million to this aid that reached the unemployed, holders of the Assignment Universal per Child (AUH), domestic workers, informal workers and monotributistas of categories A and B.
Last year the Work and Production Assistance (ATP) program was also developed, a
key piece
to sustain private activity in the midst of strict quarantine.
Through the ATP, the State was responsible for the payment of
up to 50% of salaries
.
As openings resumed, that attendance dwindled until the program ended in December.
IFE and ATP were discontinued while the pandemic showed signs of retraction and the advance of vaccines was trusted.
The main reason for limiting these aid was to
put limits on the fiscal deficit
.
Last year the red in public accounts exceeded 7% and the Central Bank issued 2 trillion pesos to cover these aid and other state expenses.
Now with the expansion of the health regrowth and the daily analysis about whether or not to return to confinement, officials slip that
the chance to reactivate the IFE and ATP reappears
.
"There is still nothing defined, it will depend on how the pandemic evolves. What is clear is that we are not going to leave people without help," they say.
Last Friday, the Market Expectations Survey (REM) of the Central Bank was known.
Economists improved the projection of a rise in activity for 2021. It went from 4.8% to 5.5%.
But this improvement is tied to the assumption that vaccination advances, the pandemic recedes and
there is no new confinement
.
If the latter happens, the forecasts will have to be redone with a bleaker outlook.
The government knows that this scenario cannot be ruled out.
Over the weekend, the Minister of Productive Development, Matías Kulfas, affirmed that "the aid of the State was, is and
will be present for each sector that needs it
."
In the same vein, the head of Social Development, Daniel Arroyo, spoke.
In radio statements, he stressed that if there is a regrowth, "exceptional social measures" will be addressed.
“If there is regrowth, you have to evaluate at all times, as do all countries.
In the event that this happens, there
will be support from the State to address the economic situation, ”
said Arroyo.
"The 2021 budget is built on a no-pandemic or no-regrowth scheme. If there is indeed a regrowth, we will generate
emergency measures
to address the situation. In 2020 we start with a budget of $ 84,000 million and end with $ 240,000 million Arroyo added.
"If new aid is necessary, it will be evaluated in the economic cabinet meetings," official sources told
Clarín
.
The chief of staff, Santiago Cafiero, the ministers Kulfas, Martín Guzmán and Claudio Moroni and other officials such as the president of the Central Bank, Miguel Pesce, and the head of AFIP, Mercedes Marcó del Pont participate in these meetings.
"
The return of the ATP is neither ruled out nor in the pipeline.
It will be seen as the restrictions advance and the impact they will have is evaluated," they pointed out.
Officials point out that if it were to close again "it will be very different from what happened in the initial phase. This is because
the industries have already adapted their protocols
and as they opened it was shown that the industry was not a contagion factor. nor on the circulation of the virus. And in fact it is a factor for early stopping: we work in a bubble format and if there is any case, the entire shift is isolated ".
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