Argentine Industry Minister, Débora Giorgi, came on stage Tuesday at the Industrial Union’s annual conference to defend the “Kirchnerite economic model”, and warned that in order to keep an average growth of 7% as asked by businessmen, they would have to increase their annual investments to 30 billion dollars.
“Negotiations are on the right track” and should be concluded in coming months, said Uruguayan sources adding that one of the current difficulties is what will happen with the Argentine negotiating team, following December 10 when re-elected President Cristina Fernandez takes office for her second consecutive four year mandate.
The second of a planned series of extended political articles written exclusively for the Penguin News web site by Deputy Editor John Fowler.
Commercial flights in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay were cancelled or reprogrammed Tuesday morning because of disruptions caused by the hovering volcanic ash being blown from the Chilean Puyehue which erupted five months ago.
Argentine President Cristina Fernandez promised on Monday to continue defending with ‘tooth and nails’ the powerful wheel of domestic consumption that has boosted the current economic model but also admitted the existence of ‘distortions which must be corrected’.
Argentine president Cristina Fernandez received strong support from the industrial sector for her latest policy of eliminating subsidies which are widely extended in the economy, but manufacturers also called for prudence and gradualism.
Over a third of metropolitan Buenos Aires, 34.9%, live below the poverty line which is equivalent to 4.4 million people, more than double the official Argentine government estimate, according to a paper from the Argentine Catholic University, UCA, and the local Caritas chapter from the Catholic Church.
Argentina's 2011-12 soybean area will likely rise 0.6% on the year to 19 million hectares, the Agriculture Ministry said in its weekly crop report. The forecast is the first from the ministry for soybeans, the country's top crop and export.
Argentina announced its full support to make the tip of the South American continent ‘a free movement of peoples’ area’ that would include Chile’s Magallanes region in the extreme south of the country and Tierra del Fuego, shared by the neighbouring countries.
Argentina's economy grew 7.7% in September from a year earlier, the government said on Friday, beating market expectations and marking the 25th straight month of growth.