Espert criticized the governors for the co-participation: “Let’s complain less and put chainsaws”

In the midst of the conflict that arose around the transfer of funds to the provinces and in the early hours of Saturday morning, the president of the Budget and Finance Committee and national deputy for La Libertad Avanza, José Luis Espert, questioned the governors and asked for more “chainsaws.” I read some governors complaining to the national government about the fall in co-participation. This is an automatic transfer from AFIP to the accounts of the PCIAS in the BNA,” he said through his social networks at five o’clock in the morning on Saturday. In addition, he said that “the government of @JMilei does not even see them, it has nothing to do with the fall. If they fall, it is in real terms because of inflation and recession, both unintended consequences of the government’s merit of having avoided hyperinflation (there is no heaven without purgatory for the sinners of populism like Argentina).” They will have to reduce provincial public spending to close the fiscal accounts as the Nation does. To complain less and put chainsaws in. And if we go to part of the fundamental solution of the tax collection drama, we would have to eliminate co-participation. It generates a toxic relationship of dependency and indignity between Provinces and the Nation. Thus, the Provinces should only collect (on their own) their Retail Profits; ditto a tax on the final sale, eliminating Gross Income and leaving a corporate VAT to the Nation (the same as Profits),” he concluded. Despite the controversy generated, the Minister of the Interior, Guillermo Francos, denied the cut in pension funds for retirees in the provinces and assured that “the items are there, they were reassigned to provincial items. There are two historical problems, the stock of debt that is not the responsibility of this government. These are debts contracted many years ago, of an amount that is difficult to clarify because there are pending audits.” There are some provinces that owe and there are other provinces that are owed. But to clarify and not snowball with an issue that is not real, the monetary items that were in the 2023 budget, which is the one that was extended this year and whose items were updated now, are, that is, with nomination differences, but the amounts are foreseen,” he clarified. And then, when asked about the pension funds and whether they would go in other items, he replied affirmatively and that “the only thing that is under discussion, and that has always been under discussion, is what are the amounts to be transferred, which is the difficult part.”

Original source in Spanish