The Minister of Economy,
Luis Caputo
, wants to balance the increases in
public service
rates so that the market believes that
inflation is slowing down
sharply and that it will return to single digits monthly in the second quarter.
For this reason,
it rejected a proposal from the public company Agua y Saneamientos Argentina (AySA) for a 138% increase in water and sewage services
in the City and Greater Buenos Aires.
Previously, the minister had postponed the increases in gas until mid-March or early April, although he authorized an adjustment in electricity this month.
The company that operates in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area (AMBA) must send another tariff scheme to the Ministry of Economy this Friday for 2024 and lower its costs.
To meet its expenses, Aysa obtains income from the
rates and subsidies
provided by the national State.
Therefore, if you cannot get the Government to enable your offer,
you will have to postpone investments in maintenance and reduce superfluous expenses
.
The cost of water
The first proposal, presented to the now vacant Ministry of Infrastructure - which contains the
Secretariat of Public Works
, formally in charge of this service - established that the average tickets would go from about $6,400 to $15,200, but it must be redesigned.
Aysa estimated that at December 2023 values in 2024 it would need resources for about $602,437 million, between operating expenses (
opex
) for $455,446 million and improvement and maintenance (
capex
) for $146,990 million.
But the projected tariff revenues, if there were no new increases, would be $253,518 million and would cover 42.1% of total costs.
That is, the other 57.9% should come from subsidies or obtain a 138% rate increase so as not to depend on the Nation's money.
However, by not having sufficient income, the state water and sanitation company will have to reduce its expenses on network improvement and maintenance, as well as design a new scheme for its operation.
Aysa's rates are controlled by the Water and Sanitation Regulatory Entity (ENRE), which in turn is under the purview of Public Works, headed by
Luis Giovine
from Córdoba .
Like his compatriots Osvaldo Giordano, from Anses, and Franco Mogetta, from Transportation, the Secretary of Public Works was left frozen by Javier Milei's fight with Governor Martín Llaryora after the
failure of the "omnibus law"
.
And the departure of Guillermo Ferraro from Infrastructure left a pseudo anarchy in the portfolio, which Caputo is now in charge of directly but without dialogue with officials.