After the approval of the Bases Law and the fiscal package, Victoria Villarruel Another issue began to pivot that could put the goal of zero deficit of the Government of Javier Milei on the ropes and that has to do with the new retirement formula. The vice president keeps the treatment of this project on hold,which has the half sanction of Deputies, with the objective of adding agreements in the search for a comprehensive reform of the pension system.
For now, Villarruel has not given any direction to the committees of the project approved at the beginning of the month by the Lower House, although sources from the ruling party agreed that it is possible that a plenary session of the Labor and Social Security committees will be convened next week. of Budget, which are chaired by Carmen Álvarez Rivero (PRO-Córdoba) and Ezequiel Atauche (LLA-Jujuy), to start the debate.
The presidency of the Senate prefers not to give a timetable for dealing with the retirement issue, but they anticipate that it will take several weeks. Meanwhile, Opposition blocs prefer to cool down the climate after days of tension that were experienced during the treatment of the Bases Law and the fiscal package.
Strictly speaking, there is agreement in both chambers of Congress on postpone those issues that could generate conflict at least during July – month of winter break- to give the Government time to apply the rules recently approved by the Chamber of Deputies and which meant Javier Milei’s first legislative victory. But mainly because the opposition sees that the economic variables are “falling into a tailspin” and they venture “difficult months for the second semester.”
The truce seems to have been decreed because so far neither the Union for the Homeland bloc nor the radicalism have come out to formally demand the treatment of the new retirement formula, which would replace the President’s DNU 274/2024, who He has already threatened to veto the rule to leave Congress, even knowing that the opposition gathered two thirds in Deputies and would have the same number in the Senate to overturn the veto, which would lead to a power conflict.
The ruling party proposes a comprehensive pension reform
In Villarruel’s office, meanwhile, they seek, together with their closest allies, to reduce the political damage and propose the intention to move forward in “a comprehensive reform” of the pension system. Thus, the parliamentary secretary Agustín Giustinian began to work on that plan which could end up modifying the half-sanction of the Deputies.
The Senate has requested reports from the Government and the Congressional Budget Office to specify the fiscal impact that the formula for the half-sanction will have. Although the details of these variables are not yet known, The ruling party already anticipated that the expenditure would not be 0.4% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as stated in Deputies, but rather “it would be much higher”which could convince a sector of radicalism to back down on the plan and take an alternative path.
In the Union for the Homeland (UxP) bloc led by José Mayans, they confirmed that the decision is to move forward with the commission office and that They have no intention of making modifications to the half-sanction so that it leaves as soon as possible without having to return to the Chamber of origin.
In Deputies, the new retirement formula was approved with 160 votes by transversal support that included Unión por la Patria, the UCR, We Make the Federal Coalition, the Civic Coalition, the Federal Innovation and some provincial deputies. If this trend continues, in the Senate the proposal could gain more than 50 votes with the support of the same sectors, exceeding two thirds of the camera.
What is the new retirement mobility formula approved by Deputies?
The new retirement mobility scheme approved in the House of Representatives is also based on the INDEC Consumer Price Indexlike the presidential decree, although the main difference is in an 8% increase that they incorporated due to the difference between the 12.5% recomposition granted by the Government and the 20.6% inflation rate in Januarywhich was the highest.
Additionally, it sets a annual update -in March of each year- based on the increase in salaries. It will be 50% of the variation in the Average Taxable Remuneration of Stable Workers (RIPTE) above inflation. Meanwhile, the salary floor was 1.09 times the total basic basket per adult.
Regarding the payment of debts with the Pension funds that were not transferred by the provinces It was agreed that they will be financed by tax resources that have specific allocations to ANSES, such as taxes on checks, country taxes and VAT. If necessary, the Treasury will be appealed to, but without touching the Sustainability Guarantee Fund.