Javier Milei continues his objective of reducing public spending as much as possible. The new announcement from the libertarian cabinet concerns the privatization of passenger rail transport. This was confirmed by the Secretary of Transport, Franco Mogetta, and the head of the Temporary Unit for the Transformation of Public Enterprises, Diego Chanher, during a press conference. Both assured that for this activity of public passenger transport by train “we have many interested companies”.
Currently, the State manages two suburban transport lines in Buenos Aires that connect the cities of Roca, Belgrano Sur, Sarmiento, San Martín and Miter and which transport almost 30 million passengers per month.
During this same press conference, the leaders of Transport and Public Enterprises confirmed that they were going to privatize 7,600 kilometers of track for the transport of goods by train.
Diego Chaher declared that the government would privatize the public company Belgrano Cargas, responsible for managing the railway axis, because it is “extremely deficient”, he reiterated. Concretely, the State had to contribute some 103 million euros to ensure its survival.
Manuel Adorni, government spokesman, said the protection of the Basic Law allows “what will be the first privatization of a railway company” since Milei assumed the presidency.
The Minister of Transport reiterated that these 7,600 kilometers of railway tracks will be in private hands in the form of a concession, so that the railway tracks and land “will continue to belong to the State”.
“All the roads are going to be concessioned to the private sector,” Chaher said. This will “triple the volume of goods transported, since the number of trains and their frequencies will increase”. Likewise, he indicated that the concessionaire “will have the obligation” to allow “all operators wishing to transport goods” to travel on this route in order to “avoid any monopolistic conduct”.
Government sources sent a press release in which they assured that the public rail freight transport company “has an oversized workforce of 4,429 people”. Alongside many senior officials, they stressed that over the past 15 years, “he has transported the same tons.”
The argument put forward by Casa Rosada to privatize this railway line is to “make the transport of goods more efficient and competitive”, at the same time as it intends to “promote investments in the sector and introduce the real estate sector into the free market “. “.
Tax agency
The project to reduce the size of Milei State continues. Last week, the Argentine government announced that it would close the Tax Agency to replace it with a cheaper, more agile, simpler and more useful organization for the country’s citizens. It is estimated that this measure will save the Treasury more than six million dollars, although it involves the layoff of more than 3,000 employees. This is in addition to the more than 25,000 civil servants he has laid off through June and the libertarian’s goal is to reach 50,000.
As part of the reduction of the State and the elimination of inefficient structures, we will proceed with the dissolution of the Federal Administration of Public Revenue (AFIP),” announced the Office of President Javier Milei in a press release.
The new body will be called the Customs Collection and Control Agency (ARCA), which will be “less bureaucratic”.
According to the Argentine authorities, this measure will allow the State to save 6.4 billion pesos ($6.3 million) per year, thanks to the 34% reduction in the current Treasury management structure.
As part of this decision, 3,155 AFIP agents will lose their jobs who, according to the government, entered irregularly under the executive of Peronist Alberto Fernández (2019-2023). This is equivalent to 15% of the current Treasury allocation.
