The Rio Negro government will participate this Wednesday in Buenos Aires the technical and preparatory meeting of the finance ministers with the Economy team, headed by Luis Caputo.
This meeting will be a prior meeting of the summit on Friday in Casa Rosada of President Javier Milei with the governors.
Previously, this Thursday, the Patagonian leaders – among them, Alberto Weretilneck from Rio Negro – will meet in Puerto Madryn to reaffirm their regional positioning and a joint strategy in response to the presidential call for the May Pact.
The Minister of Finance of Río Negro, Gabriel Sánchez, traveled to Buenos Aires to attend the Economy call this Wednesday. The presence of Caputo, who hours later will travel to Punta Cana for the Annual Meeting of the Assembly of Governors of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), is not confirmed.
Thus, the host in Economy would be the head of the National Treasury, Carlos Guberman, who will review resources sent to the provinces and, in addition, will review commitments assumed by previous fiscal agreements.
Obviously, the provincial ministers arrive eager for funds and, also, with the numbers of casualties due to the suspensions of national transfers.
Río Negro and the drop in national shipments
Sánchez received the numbers from Río Negro and, simultaneously, the provincial government released a newsletter with the declines in national funds, under the title: “The adjustment of the Nation continues: in February the co-participation fell by 21% in Río Negro.”
The text has -essentially- political definitions, with some figures where it is stated that the “loss of national resources was 21%” in February» and concludes that the “Province faces serious difficulties in fulfilling its commitments, which range from services to fundamental programs, in the midst of the economic crisis that affects the country.”
It adds that “in January and February, automatic transfers to the Province in the form of federal tax sharing experienced a significant and constant decrease, causing a loss of resources that amounted to $20,256 million. “In average terms, the decline during the course of the year reaches 15.8%, since in January it had been 10.9%”.
The information released does not specify whether the reduction corresponds exclusively to the distribution of taxes – the co-participation itself – or whether it includes transfers suspended by the Nation, such as funds for transportation or for educational services.
In the analysis, the Treasury indicates that the decrease is “mainly due to the lower collection of taxes such as Profits and VAT, caused by lower consumption and the elimination of the fourth category of Profits”, after which it adds that “This situation is aggravated by the national economic contraction, inflation and exchange rate devaluation.”
The portfolio led by Sánchez explained that “the Province faces a challenging economic scenario marked by the drastic reduction of automatic transfers from the national government and the consequent loss of resources.” It also incorporates the decrease in “provincial tax collection” and reiterates that the “ability of the province to fulfill its commitments and guarantee the provision of services is compromised.”