| Work Detail |
In the midst of cash restrictions and spending cuts, the Government managed to reach the primary elections with a good level of execution of public works and sustained job creation, although somewhat lower than the peaks of activity registered a few years ago. a few months, according to businessmen in the sector.
The builders complain because the Executive extended the payment chain to the maximum and delays the updates due to inflation, which erodes the financial capacity of the companies. But the companies hold jobs because, they reason, it would be more expensive to stop the machines and lay off workers than to keep the scheme running.
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According to the monitoring of spending carried out by the consulting firm Analytica, the expense accrued in public works fell 40.6% year-on-year until the end of July, when Sergio Massa celebrated one year as head of the Ministry of Economy. However, this "catastrophe" data, which emerges from official spreadsheets, does not cascade down to activity, which contracted much less, according to public statistics and the pulse of builders.
“Very high” indicators
“The activity indicators are very high; they fell a bit, but from the record, and the activity continues at a very good pace,” the president of the Argentine Chamber of Construction (Camarco), Gustavo Weiss, told El Cronista.
Gustavo Weiss, president of the Argentine Chamber of Construction.
As of May, construction activity fell 2.9% year-on-year and 1.9% annual accumulated in five months. This Wednesday, INDEC will publish the data for June. A thermometer data for public works, asphalt, accumulated a fall of 4.4% per year in five months.
According to the Grupo Construya index, the fall would have deepened in June. The indicator - which is not strictly comparable with the INDEC report - showed a 7.5% annual decline in the volumes of materials sold to the private sector. The index accumulated in the first semester showed a drop of 8.5% per year.
"The level of shipments is maintained at a high level, but lower than the records of 2022, due to the impact that macroeconomic instability and current restrictions have on the pocket of Argentines and on business development," Construya analyzed. .
The seasonally adjusted index produced by Construya (in red), at historically high levels.
Also in May, construction employed 468,200 formal employees, according to the Ministry of Labor. Employment in the sector grew 10.2% year-on-year, although in the last month with available data it showed signs of plateauing, expanding a modest 0.4%.
“The Construction sector presents 34 consecutive months with positive monthly variations. Currently, employment is 21.8% above the level prior to the start of the pandemic and reached the maximum in its historical series, thus exceeding the previous maximum registered in March 2018 (+0.7%)", he highlighted. the portfolio run by Raquel “Kelly” Olmos.
Work in progress
According to data from the Ministry of Public Works headed by Gabriel Katopodis, there are currently 2,655 works in progress and 3,665 road, water and infrastructure projects completed during the administration of President Alberto Fernández.
So far in 2023, the ministry reported that 1,401 works were completed, the highest value in the last four years. The Ministry of Habitat adds to the bill the construction of 120,000 homes. Y Energía manages the Néstor Kirchner gas pipeline.
The project monitor of the Ministry of Public Works.
late payments
According to private sector sources, the projects maintain a good level of execution, although they slowed down in the last year. "What has financing from multilateral banks, such as the IDB or the CAF, continues without problems and is collected in a timely manner," said an important businessman. "The problem is the works by agreement, which are the ones managed by the provinces with national funds, because the national government does not send the money," he described.
"In the House meetings, everyone says they are very complicated by the delay in payments, which with this deadly inflation adds to the problem of the delay in the redetermination of prices," confirmed Weiss. According to industry sources, there are delays of up to three months in payments.
However, the execution continues. “Stopping a work is very complicated. On the one hand, due to the fines generated by non-compliance. But also because of the commitments assumed with the suppliers and the people”, stated Weiss. At most, he added, there are delays in certain projects, but not paralysis.
For the coming months, the Government will have to show even more fiscal discipline, to reduce the deficit, which travels to 2.5% per year, to a level of 1.9%, as agreed with the IMF. In this context, the Executive seeks to maintain the level of works and employment. The most dynamic sector when it comes to generating work, it is also the one that stops hiring the fastest if projects stop.
Source: https://www.cronista.com/ |
