FILE PHOTO: Argentina’s then-President-elect, Alberto Fernandez, speaks during a news conference in Montevideo, Uruguay, November 14, 2019. REUTERS/Mariana Greif/File Photo
December 16, 2019
By Nicolás Misculin
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Argentina’s government will send a bill to Congress on Tuesday including an array of proposals to increase taxes, including on overseas transactions and personal property, as new President Alberto Fernández seeks funds to salve a stalled economy.
A spokesman for new cabinet chief Santiago Cafiero confirmed the plan to send the bill to legislators, which is hoped to give the government ammunition to bolster social spending amid recession and rising poverty.
Fernandez’s administration has already announced plans to hike taxes on farm products, Argentina’s main export, and to bring back a so-called “tourist tax” on overseas expenditure. It will also cut drug prices in agreement with industry.
Fernández, who took office last week, is grappling with annual inflation close to 55% and an economy that is expected to contract for a third straight year in 2020.
His economic team is also already negotiating with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other creditors on new payment terms on around $100 billion in debts, which Fernandez said Argentina cannot currently pay.
(Reporting by Nicolas Misculin; Writing by Adam Jourdan; editing by Grant McCool)
