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peppertree's JournalCovid: Argentina passes tax on wealthy to pay for virus and economic measures
Argentina has passed a new tax on its wealthiest people to pay for medical supplies and relief measures amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Senators passed the one-off levy - dubbed the "millionaire's tax" - by 42 votes to 26 on Friday.
Those with assets worth more than 200 million pesos ($2.5m; £1.8m) - some 12,000 people (about 0.8% of taxpayers) - will have to pay pay a progressive rate of 2.25% to 3.5% on wealth in Argentina, and up to 5.25% on that outside the country.
Argentina has been hit hard by the pandemic, recording close to 1.5 million infections and almost 40,000 deaths from the coronavirus.
Lockdown measures enacted on March 19 - since loosened - have further dented an economy struggling with unemployment, high poverty levels and massive government debt.
Argentina has been in recession since 2018, when a carry-trade debt bubble known locally as the "financial bicycle" collapsed under former President Mauricio Macri.
AFP news agency reports that of the projected $3.5 billion raised, 20% will go to medical supplies, 20% to relief for small and medium-sized businesses, 20% to scholarships for students, 15% to social development, and the remaining 25% to natural gas ventures.
At: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-55199058
Argentine Vice President Cristina Kirchner (right) presides over today's virtual Senate session, in which a one-time wealth surtax was approved after its passage in the Lower House.
President Alberto Fernández, who's grappling with what he's referred to a "double pandemic" of the congoing Covid-19 crisis following a debt "Macrisis" inherited from his right-wing predecessor, supports the bill - projected to raise over $3.5 billion.
While Argentina's economy has been gradually recovering since May, GDP is still likely to fall nearly 10% this year.
Income poverty has meanwhile reached 44% - though relief measures, according to the Argentine Catholic University, prevented this rate from reaching 53%.
President-elect Biden phones Argentine President Alberto Fernandez: "I want a strong relationship"
President-elect Joe Biden shared a phone conversation this morning with Argentine President Alberto Fernández - who since his election last year has struggled with the Covid-19 pandemic, its economic effects, and a debt crisis inherited from right-wing predecessor Mauricio Macri.
The call was the first between Biden and Fernández, who again congratulated the President-elect - adding that “your victory means a great opportunity to create a better bond, and for the United States to renew its relationship with Latin America.”
Biden, in turn, told Fernández that “the continent has great potential, with a solid democracy, and we have a broad agenda to work on from Canada to Argentina.”
“I want to have a strong relationship with the continent,” said Biden.
An alternative
“These have been difficult years for Latin America,” Fernández noted. “We wanted things to change and we see in you an alternative.”
Biden's defeat of President Donald Trump was hailed around the world as a hope for a more pragmatic U.S. foreign policy.
Argentine Foreign Minister Felipe Solá noted that the call “was scheduled to last 10 minutes and lasted 35 minutes, so obviously (Biden) was comfortable.”
Solá said that Fernández asked Biden “for the cooperation and goodwill of the director representing the U.S. at the IMF, because we are not currently having much luck with the current director (Trump appointee Mark Rosen).”
Argentina's currently renegotiating a $45 billion IMF debt - taken on by Macri ahead of his failed 2019 re-election effort in what Fernández has described as “the world's largest campaign contribution ever.”
Biden, Solá added, “said he would endeavor to settle the financial problems of Latin America, and recognized Argentina as a very important country” with great human and natural resources.
At: https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&u=https://www.pagina12.com.ar/309058-alberto-fernandez-y-joe-biden-mantuvieron-una-comunicacion-t
Argentine President Alberto Fernández smiles during today's phone call with President-elect Joe Biden.
Biden, who shares the Catholic faith with Fernández as well as a friendship with the Argentine-born Pope Francis, stressed that the continent must be helped in its economic recovery.
“We have a lot ahead to do in the region,” Fernández concurred. “This is the most unequal continent in the world, it must be developed economically and socially balanced.”
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