The Ministry of Economy, led by Sergio Massa, is finalizing the details of a relief measure for the 3 million unregistered or informal workers who have not been reached by the initiatives launched in recent days by the Unión por la Patria (UxP) government.
This is a decision that has been in preparation and that the economic team is currently discussing with the National Social Security Agency (ANSES), led by Fernanda Raverta.
According to the minister and presidential candidate Sergio Massa, the recipients are usually “informal workers or changarines,” as people who carry out temporary jobs are commonly called.
“There are about three million Argentines who are part of the country’s productive force, but outside the formal economic system,” Massa said during an interview on channel C5N.
In this sector, which is also part of the working universe, “we must try to face the situation caused by the devaluation that the IMF imposed on Argentina” and that took place after the PASO last August, explained the UxP candidate.
“We have to help them” and that is why “we are working on a measure” that is not yet fully defined but that we will “resolve in the next few days,” he noted.
The announcement came earlier this week after the Chamber of Deputies gave a half-sanction to the income tax reform and after the Ministry of Economy confirmed the refund of 21 percent of VAT on food.
This last measure benefits self-employed and formal workers whose salaries are deposited in the bank, but not necessarily informal workers who receive their daily income in cash, which in the sum of the month is usually less than the basic basket.
Although Massa avoided giving details (“I don’t want to prejudge anything without the measure being clearly defined,” he said), it emerged that the new device would bear some similarity to the Emergency Family Income (IFE). . which the government launched during the toughest months of the pandemic and when movement restrictions were in place.
The IFE was an exceptional effort that attempted to compensate for the decline in income due to the health emergency. But for now, “we are finishing work on the details with Raverta and the economic team,” Massa said.
