Economic Martin Redrado On Sunday night he analyzed the government’s economic direction and prospects for 2026. In dialogue with José del Río for Business community (LN+), this was confirmed by the former head of the Central Bank The “greatest challenge” in the next phase will be to re-create formal employment opportunities and give them the ability to predict macroeconomics To Argentina, he warned against optimism moving forward This will depend on specific decisions in employment, tax and exchange matters..
Redrado stated that despite the inflationary slowdown, “salaries are not growing and employment is not growing either,” and warned that the economy has already lost ground. 150,000 job opportunitiesEspecially in construction, industry and trade. He added: “There is no vision for a transformation that would push the economy to growth.”
In this sense, he saw that the government must work on two axes: “It has to solve how to give Argentines predictability in exchange, monetary and financial issues, and how to make the private sector more competitive.” For this, It was considered necessary to reduce tax pressure, high logistical costs and distortions of the federal scheme.
Regarding the factors that will allow us to have an optimistic outlook on the country’s future, Redrado was categorical: “Everything will depend precisely on what we do and the decisions we take.” If necessary, I suggest a Direct battle against the informal themeWhich affects 50% of workers, and reducing labor taxes to facilitate the employment process.
“A registered worker pays 18% taxes. If we want to increase the official salary, we can reduce it to 9%.”He explained. He added that modernizing employment is “not enough” if costs are not reduced, which today act as “barriers to entry.”
The economist stressed that investment It will be another essential pillar for the resumption of growth and requires movement towards a Exchange rate onlywithout loopholes or restrictions. He said: “We must exit the European dollar, cash with settlement and blue. Investors are demanding that the exchange rate return to normal.”
During another part of the interview, the former official celebrated that there are sectors today showing positive performance – such as mining, the knowledge economy, information technology and agriculture -, But he warned that its expansion requires stable financial conditions.
In that context, He requested a reduction in the bank reserves that the Central Bank requests from entitiesThis aims to reduce the rates faced by SMEs as structural reforms progress.
Redrado explained that reserve requirements today reach 52%, a level much higher than the international standard. “For every 100 pesos deposited in a bank, BCRA requires that more than half of it be frozen as a backup. In a normal financial system, the percentage is 20%,” he explained.
According to him, this increase – implemented during the electoral period to contain the dollar – must now be reversed. “Lowering the interest rate will allow us to have a more homogeneous economy,” he said, before highlighting this Financial normalization will be crucial To sustain growth.