Instead, she marked her 101st day - on March 11 - by announcing a hike on taxes for exports of soybeans and sunflower seeds. As the Financial Times has pointed out, the new tariff regime replaces a 35 per cent levy on soya sales, with charges of up to 95 percent if prices rise to $600 a ton. Farmers will now have to pay 44 percent on exports at prices of about $465 a ton. Added to income tax and provincial levies, this results in a total tax burden on farmers of 73 percent, according to data from the Argentine Agrarian Federation quoted by the Financial Times.
WORSENS CRISIS
The new taxes led to widespread protests from the farmers themselves - and then by disgruntled citizens in
"Food shortages will probably intensify this week, which could lead to new bouts of social unrest in the cities," Credit Suisse analyst Carola Sandy wrote in an analysis today. "Last week’s street protests in
The food shortages have helped to further boost inflation. While the official figures shows that prices are barely growing, independent economists say the problem is only getting worse and that the government continues to meddle with the data from the official statistics agency Indec.
"The empirical evidence suggests that prices are increasing in
NESTOR'S LEGACY
To be fair, Cristina did inherit most of her problems from her husband, Nestor Kirchner, who was
Take the case of the farmers. She clearly believes that they have to pay the price for her policies aimed at redistributing wealth. The problem is that she is hurting the agricultural sector, a key pillar of
While Argentines are suffering from a lack of beef and other food products, they are also suffering from an absence of substance at the Presidential Palace.
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