On the eve of ThursdayвЂ™s mass picket protest PresidentВ Alberto FernГЎndez met up with the leaders of the pro-government social organisations in the Casa Rosada. Agriculture Minister JuliГЎn DomГnguez accused the strike of bearing no relation to reality, either globally or in Argentina, with peak productive capacity in the sector and the second-highest level of fertiliser imports in history. But the main complaints were the lack of diesel fuel, macroeconomic uncertainty and the tax burden. The nine points of protest presented by the four organisations launching this farm produce marketing stoppage вЂ“ the RuralВ Society, the ConfederaciГіn Rural Argentina (CRA), the FAA grouping small farmers and Coninagro for cooperatives - not only included agricultural grievances but also complaints about the planned expansion of the Supreme Court, runaway spending and even the вЂњunprecedented political vacuumвЂќ of the Frente de Todos government. The agricultural sectorвЂ™s farm strike against government policies was duly held last Wednesday with the Entre RГos city of GualeguaychГє as its epicentre. She also upheld the agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the objectives of its programme, despite which market reactions during the week were generally negative. They included a freeze on state employment as part of a general reduction of public spending, the segmentation of public service billing starting yesterday, pegging interest rates ahead of inflation to encourage saving, the revaluation of property assessment for tax purposes and the creation of a single account for state companies under the umbrella of the Economy Ministry.

One week after taking office, Economy Minister Silvina Batakis made her first major policy announcements last Monday. Core inflation (excluding seasonal and regulated prices) was 5.1 percent. The most sensitive item, food and beverages, weighed in below average at 4.6 percent. The main culprit among items was health with a 7.4 percent increase in costs, followed by public services and fuels with 6.8 percent. Prices have thus risen 36.2 percent in the first half of the year. Last monthвЂ™s inflation was 5.3 percent, fractionally up on MayвЂ™s 5.1 percent and making for an annual inflation of 64 percent, the INDEC national statistics bureau announced on Thursday.

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