Milei promises to eliminate taxes and exchange restrictions for the countryside, but asks for time

The president of Argentina, Javier Mileipromised the powerful agricultural sector on Sunday to eliminate taxes on exports and exchange restrictions, but asked for time to stabilize the economy first, in a speech widely applauded by producers.

“This administration will always be on the side of the Argentine countryside”inMilei stressed at the 136th annual exhibition held by the Argentine Rural Society (SRA) on its premises in the Palermo neighborhood of Buenos Aires.

First head of state to visit this traditional fair since Mauricio Macri (2015-2019), who in turn was the first president to attend after 15 years of Kirchnerist governments, Milei He pledged to “resolve the heavy burdens that the countryside bears.”

Milei stressed his objective of ending the withholdings on the liquidations that producers receive for their sales abroad, as well as the “exchange rate restriction”, the exchange control in force since 2019 that limits access to dollars in a country where the US currency serves as a safe haven for savings.

“Nobody wants to get out of this disastrous model as much as we do, where the State, through taxes and restrictions, expropriates 70% of what the countryside produces. We are going to put an end to this once and for all.”Milei assured.

“But we must also know that removing the patches without first solving the underlying problem would worsen the crisis we inherited. Therefore, we do not care how much pressure there is and where it comes from, we are not going to rush demagogically, we are going to respect the achievement of macroeconomic balance and we will move forward as that is achieved,” he added.

Milei came to power last year supported by large agricultural producers. But despite his promises to reduce taxes on agriculture, as soon as he took office he raised taxes from 31% to 33% on exports of soy flour and oil, two products that carry a large weight in Argentina’s trade balance.

On Sunday, the president of the SRA, Nicolás Pino, praised Milei’s presence at the Rural, but insisted on the sector’s demands.

“We producers need the certainty that you will eliminate the withholdings. If we continue working like this it is because we trust your word”said.

Argentina, known as the world’s breadbasket, is the world’s third largest producer of soybeans, behind the United States and Brazil.

It exports 70% of its agro-industrial production, which represented 55% of Argentine exports in 2023, a volume that means significant tax revenues for the State.

Source: AFP