Argentina: public spending soared in September

Argentine Economy Minister Massa’s plan reduced the fiscal deficit in September, but public spending increased, and the gap was covered with higher tax collection.

The national State is getting bigger and bigger while society is adjusting and tax voracity is growing.

The Ministry of Economy informed that the financial deficit of the National Public Sector’s cash base amounted to 4.42% of the GDP at the end of September.

The primary imbalance of the National Government amounted to 2.74% of the GDP in the annual accumulated for the month, thus registering a slight decrease compared to the 3.1% observed in August.

The program agreed with the International Monetary Fund requires reaching the target of up to 2.5% of the primary deficit by December.

The guidelines launched by Minister Sergio Massa achieved a slight reduction in the fiscal deficit, but only due to greater revenues.

National primary spending grew again in September and reached 23.4% of GDP in September, the highest value recorded since March 2021.

Massa’s plan did not entail any adjustment for the State and was limited to deepening some of the limitations inherited from the Batakis administration, such as the cap on hiring new personnel to the permanent staff of the Central Administration and certain decentralized agencies.

The total collection of the National Government increased by 2.44 percentage points only since June and more than compensated for the brutal increase in the size of the State.

So far during Alberto Fernández’s presidency, primary spending has increased by up to 4.6 percentage points, and federal revenue has expanded by 2.6 percentage points.

Concerning the gross product, federal outlays have been the highest (without the pandemic) since September 2017, according to the Ministry of Economy statistical series, and the collection has reached maximum levels since 2015.

National government spending on economic subsidies registered a new increase in September and represented a value equivalent to 3.3% of GDP, something not seen since April 2017.

That is because the adjustments provided since October for electricity, gas, and water are not yet captured in the official statistics.

Only the update of the Federal Capital subway services took place in September.

With information from Derecha Diario