On Sunday, Sergio Massa, the Peronist presidential candidate and Economy Minister, pledged to form a "government of national unity" should he win the elections on December 10.
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"Don't be surprised if there are people from other political parties in our government. I will call for a government of national unity. I am not afraid to collaborate with those who think differently because Argentina is all of us," stated Massa.
He made these remarks at an event in the province of Salta, where Massa signed energy agreements with governors from a dozen provinces, including opposition leaders.
With just one month remaining until the presidential elections in October, Massa highlighted the "enormous and invaluable gesture" of "these northern governors, who come from different political backgrounds and were not afraid to show Argentina that we can build a united nation, that we can reach agreements despite our differences."
Massa, the second most voted candidate in the August primaries, will also send an addendum to the 2024 Budget project already submitted to Congress so as to include a mechanism that compensates provinces for the reduced revenue they will receive from tax collection.
Recently, Massa exempted thousands of workers from income tax and decided to refund the value-added tax applied to basic goods.
While these fiscal policies aim to mitigate income losses due to the Argentine high inflation, they have resulted in a reduction in tax revenue collected by the national government.
Therefore, Massa pledged to the governors to promote a mechanism to redistribute part of the revenue from the check tax and the "country tax" among the provinces. The Economy minister stated that this is intended to "protect the financial stability of the provinces."