Government reloads 1.5 million Alimentar Cards worth $112.26 mn

The Ministry of Social Development will recharge 1.5 million Alimentar cards today, and beneficiaries will receive a 50% increase in the amounts received this month. 1.5 million cards of this plan for food purchase will mean that the Government will put some 10,000 million pesos ($ 112.26 mn) on the market for consumption.

With the pandemic, digital transactions increased by 2000%

Transactions between the bank and non-bank accounts in Argentina's digital payments ecosystem grew by more than 2000% in the last twelve months. Between January 2020 and January 2021, 74.8 million transactions made for an amount close to 931 billion pesos. ($ 10.45 bn).

Wholesale inflation was 5.6% in January

Driven by primary products of national origin, wholesale prices grew by 5.6% in January, above retail inflation for that month, the INDEC reported yesterday. Compared with January 2020, the indicator accumulated growth of 40.8%, according to official statistics, and for the first time since April, last year exceeded the 40% mark.

The cost of construction rose by 3.1% in January

Compared with last December's figures, the general level of the construction cost index (CCI) in Greater Buenos Aires rose by 3.1% in January. It resulted from a 5.9% increase in Materials, a 0.6% rise in Labour and a 1.8% increase in general expenses. In year-on-year terms, the cost of construction increased by 38%.

Buenos Aires’ government presented a plan to improve 1,500 km of rural roads for $78.6 mn

Buenos Aires' government presented a plan to improve 1,500 kilometres of rural roads that will require an investment of almost 7 billion pesos ($78.6 mn). The planned works include road stabilisation, drainage, roadside reshaping, installing metal railings in critical sectors and vertical signage to promote more excellent road safety. This plan covers some 1,500 kilometres, 1,200 of which have the provincial infrastructure.

Government announces $8.43 mn investment in the shipbuilding industry

The government is seeking to support sectors that show signs of recovery. On the list of industries in full reactivation and will have new regulatory frameworks is the shipbuilding industry. The government announces an investment of 750 million pesos ($8.43 mn) with the owners of the firm SPI Astilleros for the construction of a suction dredger for river and seaport interiors.

Basic Food Basket: up 4.2 % in January

The Total Basic Food Basket (CBT) registered an increase of 4.2 per cent in January, the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INDEC) reported yesterday. According to official data, a typical family needed an income of 56,459 pesos ($635) not to be considered poor. Meanwhile, the so-called Basic Food Basket (CBA) - which measures indigence - increased by 4.6 per cent in the first month of the year. Both indicators rose above the general index, which was 4%.

Public debt: down to $334.9 bn in January

In January, the government reported that the total gross public debt of the central government fell to $334.9 billion, $1.18 billion less than in the previous month.

Due to income tax on wages, Toyota stopped exporting $1million on Tuesday’s holiday

Toyota did not work on Tuesday, a public holiday, even though it had everything in place at its factory in Zárate to produce some 600 units of its Hilux pick-up and SW4 SUV. The overtime "bonus" of its 5000 employees would have gone to the Treasury, and the Zárate factory paralysed. The factory stopped exporting $1million, just for that one truncated working day.

With inflation at 36.1%, increases of up to 1,300% recorded in medicines during 2020

The Argentine Health Union (UAS) presented a report that records that there were medicines that in 2020 increased by up to 1,300%, in a year when inflation reached 36.1%. Drugs for hospital use increased by an average of 278%, but products such as Propofol (for use in critically ill patients with Covid 19) had annual increases of 335%.