Inflation continues to scare Argentina, and this time paying the price is one of the symbols of the economy (and culture) of Buenos Aires and its surroundings: the beef. Argentina, as is known, is the South American country that most feels the problem of containing the rise in prices, with the exception of Venezuela which for some time now has been traveling in a separate dimension (it is calculated in thousands of percentage points, a salary is needed to a kg of rice and the GDP has lost 85% since 2013): after closing 2020 with inflation at 36%, the figure is soaring again this year. In the month of April alone, according to official statistics, inflation rose by 4,1% from March, by 17,6% from January and compared to a year ago by 46,3%. The trend could lead to reliving the annus horribilis of 2019, when it closed with 53,8%, while the government's forecasts for the whole of 2021 are in theory for an inflation increase of only 29%.
But what does the famous (and very tasty) beef have to do with it? This was explained directly by President Alberto Fernandez, who after Covid (Argentina is one of the most affected South American countries with over 70.000 deaths) and the agreement with the IMF for the restructuring of the debt of over 44 billion dollars, also faces this problem: “The price of meat has risen sharply on the domestic market. As a result of this we are about to take a series of measures aimed at regulating the sector, to put an end to speculative practices and tax evasion”. To give the authorities time to intervene, Fernandez has ordered a 30-day halt to beef exports, with the exception of deliveries already in progress. The meat bubble it falls within the broader category of foodstuffs, whose prices grew by 65,3% from April 2020 to April 2021.
"I can't explain it and I'm very worried," confessed President Fernandez, whose popularity is already shaking due to the management of the pandemic: in Argentina, just 4% of the population has been vaccinated, less than 2 million people, a rate worse even than Brazil which has a denier president. The concern is mainly due to the fact that meat in Argentina is a strategic resource: agricultural products represent the most important part of exports and Argentina, as well as the first consumer, is the fourth largest exporter in the world of beef, behind only Brazil, Australia and India. In 2020 it exported its prized red meat for a value of 3,37 billion, having China, Germany and Israel as its main outlets. The domestic market is also consolidated: Argentines consume 38 kg of beef per person per year (according to the OECD), even 12 kg more than the Americans.
Temporarily blocking meat exports is perhaps a necessary but also painful move, given that the economy is already navigating very stormy waters: in 2020 Argentine GDP lost almost 10%, and this in itself would not be a worse figure than that of many European economies, were it not for the fact that 42% of the population lives below the poverty line.
