From Sandra Pettovello’s ministry they say that poverty decreased: the official explanation

The Ministry of Human Capital, headed by Sandra Pettovello, released this Thursday a statistic to reverse the meaning of the projection of the increase in poverty. Thus, and based on data from the social portfolio, they announced that there was a slowdown in the indices of povertyalthough the INDEC report for the first half of 2024 indicated that 52.9% of the population is below the basic basket income.

The contrasting data comes from the National Council for the Coordination of Social Policies, dependent on the ministry headed by Pettovello and indicates that the quarterly data show a downward trend.

According to the Information, Evaluation and Monitoring System of Social Programs (SIEMPRO), whose data Pettovello disseminated with a graph on its networks, poverty reached a peak of 54.8% in it first quarter of 2024but fell to 51.0% in the second quarter, which means a recovery of 3.8%.

Authorities expect this trend to continue in the coming months. And they are also trying to establish a downward feeling, when the official INDEC data showed another scenario.

The ministry attributes this improvement “to the effectiveness of the economic planwhich achieved a inflation reduction“, which according to Capital Humano, “allowed the recovery of salaries“.

They argue that in July 2024, real incomes reached the level they had in November 2023. “A orderly macroeconomics and without inflation it is key to reversing the deterioration and achieving sustained growth,” they point out in an official statement.

In addition to the economic measures, the Ministry of Human Capital was ready to highlight the alleged impact of its own agenda: Pettovello made it known that “intensified its social programsfocusing on childhood and adolescence”.

“Initiatives such as the Universal Child Allowance (AUH) and the 1000 Days Plan were strengthened, ensuring that the coverage of the Basic Food Basket went from 49% in December 2023 to 97.7% currently,” they affirm and add: “The Alimentar Card was also expanded, which as of October 2024 includes adolescents up to 17 years old.”

According to INDEC, the first report corresponding to the government of Javier Mileithe indicator gave a jump of more than 11 points with respect to the second half of 2023.

That time during the closure of Alberto Fernández’s government, poverty was at 41.7%, of which 11.9% were left in a situation of destitution. It is also the worst figure in 20 years.

To justify the numbers, the Government adopted a two-pronged discursive strategy: on the one hand blamed Kirchnerism for having left him with an explosive scenario whose normalization has had consequences on the socio-economic situation of the population, but at the same time he tried to divert attention with the visit of the popular entertainer Susana Giménez to the Casa Rosada at a time when the INDEC was spreading the worrying statistic.

Following the figures reported by the statistical agency, Casa Rosada sent them to the soliloquy of spokesman Manuel Adornilasting more than ten minutes, at the beginning of his usual press conference this Thursday in which he attributed the Frente de Todos government to having left “bombs planted” that supposedly triggered the current socio-economic panorama.

Along the same lines, the Minister of Economy, Luis Caputoshared a graphic on his social networks in which he also attributed poverty to an inheritance of Kirchnerism.

“From a much less critical situation, after the 2001 crisis, the poverty rate almost doubled to reach 58%,” he said, adding: “Conclusive proof that it is not an exaggeration when President Milei says that if we had not avoided the catastrophe that many predicted poverty could have reached levels of 80 or 90%. A much better future awaits all Argentines,” he concluded.