• Live
    • Audio Only
  • google plus
  • facebook
  • twitter
News > Argentina

Argentina: Lawmakers Approve Solidarity Law to Resolve Crisis

  • An employee works at the kayak factory in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Dec. 17, 2019.

    An employee works at the kayak factory in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Dec. 17, 2019. | Photo: Reuters

Published 20 December 2019
Opinion

The Chamber of Deputies passed the bill with 134 votes in favor and 110 against. The Senate will analyze the proposal in the afternoon.

Argentina’s Chamber of Deputies Friday approved the "Social Solidarity and Productive Reactivation" Bill sent by President Alberto Fernandez as part of his emergency plan to resolve the crisis inherited from Mauricio Macri's administration (2015-2019).

RELATED:

Argentina to Freeze Gas and Electricity Rates

After a parliamentary session that lasted more than 15 hours in a row, the Chamber passed the law with 134 votes in favor and 110 against.

On Friday afternoon, the Senate will meet to analyze and approve the bill, which is very likely given that President Fernandez is supported by 39 senators and the opposition only has 37 votes.

The Solidarity Bill is the first major measure that the progressive government drives to face the dramatic social situation in Argentina, which is going through an economic recession since 2018.

Due to the sharp fall in the Argentines' real income, the Fernandez administration proposed measures such as the freezing of basic service fees, an increase in the compensation that workers receive for unjustified dismissals, and a review of pension amounts.​​​​​​​

The half-sanction of the Social Solidarity Bill is the first step towards greater social equality; fundamentally, however, it is also the first step to eliminate hunger in Argentina and the 40 percent of poverty that Macri left us. Argentina against hunger. The meme reads, “Do you know what a superpower is? They thought that inflation could be resolved just snapping fingers. They thought they were designated to solve the Argentines' problems and now they tell us that these measures are not necessary. Maximo Kirchner, Dec. 20, 2019.”

The Solidarity Bill also proposes measures to control hyperinflation and increase public revenues, among which is an increase in taxes on agricultural exports, a 30 percent surcharge on purchases of foreign currency, and taxes on purchases made abroad with local credit cards.

By doing so, the Argentinean government seeks that high-income social groups contribute to the resolution of the ongoing crisis.

"The solidarity of those who have the most helps to increase ​​​​​​​the resources to improve the situation of those who are having a hard time," Fernandez tweeted.​​​​​​​

Comment
0
Comments
Post with no comments.