Buenos Aires (AFP)

The purchase of foreign currency taxed at 30%, the tariffs of water, gas and electricity frozen for six months, the export of agricultural products more taxed: the new Argentine government of center left multiplies the measures to try to stem the crisis.

A week after taking office, Economy Minister Martin Guzman announced at a press conference on Tuesday the economic emergency measures that were being sent to Parliament.

Among them are the taxation of 30% of the purchase of foreign currency and the freezing of public service tariffs for six months.

These measures will come into force as soon as they are adopted by Parliament, said Martin Guzman, who until very recently was one of the collaborators at Columbia University in New York of the Nobel Prize winner in economics Joseph Stiglitz.

"We are seeking to appease the Argentine economy," said the minister, at a time when the economic panorama of the third power in Latin America is quite bleak.

In addition to a 3.1% contraction in GDP predicted in 2019 by the IMF, the year should end with inflation of around 55%, a poverty rate around 40% and unemployment at 10.4%.

In addition to taxing the purchase of foreign currency, Martin Guzman confirmed that the exchange controls put in place by the previous government of the Liberal Mauricio Macri remained in force.

Concretely, since the end of October, Argentines can only buy 200 dollars a month for savings.

"We need to discourage savings in dollars, (money) that we do not produce," said the minister, who intends, however, to remove taxes on savings in Argentine pesos.

"This package aims to maintain certain balances and change priorities to protect the most vulnerable sectors," he said.

- "Phenomenal deterioration" -

In this sense, he announced an exceptional premium of 10,000 pesos (some 150 euros) for retirees receiving the lowest pensions.

"It is about stopping the fall of the Argentine economy while we protect those who can no longer put in more effort," continued Martin Guzman.

"There has been a phenomenal deterioration in the social security system in the past four years, which has led to a deterioration in the situation of retirees," he said, announcing that he had launched a reflection on the adjustment system. annual pensions.

Finally, the minister also said that a tax on financial assets held abroad by Argentines would be put in place.

"In this context of such a deep crisis, we need the contribution of all sectors," he said.

Coming to power on December 10, Peronist Alberto Fernandez has promised to "get Argentina back on its feet" after more than a year of recession.

By the end of last week, it had already raised taxes on the export of soybeans and grains, an "urgent" measure to deal with the "serious situation" of the country's public finances.

Concretely, the customs duties on the sales of cereals abroad will have a fixed rate of 9%. For soybeans, the main export product, it will remain taxed at 18%, bringing the total tax on oilseeds to 27%.

Until Friday and since September 2018, cereals were taxed up to 4 pesos per dollar exported, which initially represented a tax of 12% but this amount was made obsolete by the sharp depreciation of the currency. The currency has depreciated by 70% since January 2018.

The agricultural sector is the only one to post strong growth (46% in the second quarter), according to the National Institute of Statistics.

© 2019 AFP