The chainsaw is beginning to pay off for Javier Milei's government in its goal of reaching zero deficit.
Although several budget programs are also seeing the impact of the devaluation decided at the end of last year, which led to a sharp reduction in spending measured in dollars.
A clear reflection of this is
the social items, which cost the State 40% less than a year ago: they went from US$991 million to US$601 million in two months
.
The data arises from the comparison that
Clarín
made between the first two months of 2023 and those of 2024. While 12 months ago $ 185,000 million had been transferred to Potenciar Trabajo and the Alimentar Card, the two main programs of the defunct Ministry of Social Development,
This year $496.5 billion were sent to both items
.
In inflationary terms, a growth of 168%, below the 254% year-on-year increase revealed by Indec from January to January.
But the effect was seen especially in what has to do with the dollar.
Exactly twelve months ago, the US currency was quoted in the official market at $185, while now it rounded out the first 60 days of the year at an average price of $826, according to data from the Central Bank.
This devaluation jump had a downward impact on social spending measured in dollars.
Hence, those US$ 991 million in 2023 today are US$ 601 billion bimonthly (a variation of -39.4%), beyond the fact that there was also a significant reduction in the Enhance Work plans that are paid and also the Salary Minimum Vital and Mobile, to which these benefits were tied until last month, grew below inflation.
The $67,700 that was paid a year ago to the minimum wage earner (50% to the beneficiary of the Enhance Work) represents in real terms less than the $180,000 that was paid in the month of February.
Last week it was announced that
the Government will divide the Empower Work with two new programs
.
On the one hand, "Return to Work", which will focus on the development of the "socio-labor" competencies of the beneficiaries that allow them to reach a level of real initial employability and improve their opportunities for job placement.
For its part, “Social Accompaniment” is another area that will promote social inclusion and improve the living conditions of households, “aiming to strengthen their family nucleus and the community where they live.”
Thus, the main social assistance program of the last four years is divided, which, however, maintains funds that exceed one billion pesos for this entire period.
The closure of the Reference Centers
The reduction in the costs of the Empower Work and the Food Card, at least in dollars, occurs in the middle of
an attempt by the Government to optimize the structures within the Ministry of Human Capital
headed by Sandra Pettovello.
And reduce all possible expenses from these initiatives.
On Monday, for example, the Government announced the closure of 59 Reference Centers throughout the country, ensuring that they function as "political boxes and State gnocchi shelters."
According to the Ministry of Human Capital in a statement, these cuts will save $5 billion annually.
The Reference Centers are local spaces for managing procedures that are located in different parts of the country.
They were created to bring public policies closer to the population, but Javier Milei's government states that they receive "very few queries per day, in most cases they do not resolve the process and only refer people to another organization."
"They are the clearest image of the State bureaucracy," the Ministry of Human Capital defined these spaces
.
In the statement, the portfolio led by Sandra Pettovello indicated that they will fire "more than 600 public employees who earned a total of $4,000 million per year."
Furthermore, as stated by the Government, the closure of the 59 spaces "implies a saving in spending of 88 million pesos annually on rent."
They will also cancel "50 cars that generated an expense of more than 20 million pesos per year" and 42 cell phones.
To argue the decision to close them, Human Capital stated that they recently visited a center with more than 50 registered employees and that during the working day "only less than 20 jobs were covered."
The Ministry of Human Capital reports that it will close 59 Reference Centers (CDRs) that currently function as political funds and militant shelters.
The measure constitutes an annual savings of $5,000,000,000.
As a result of the internal audit being carried out by the…
— Ministry of Human Capital (@MindeCapitalH) March 4, 2024