Argentina's Leading Presidential Candidate Will Improve Benefits for Retired Citizens
Daniel Scioli, Argentina's ruling party choice for the next president, said that if he takes office he will improve benefits for retired citizens and manage to do this by using funds meant for the nation's social security system.
As reported in Reuters Scioli said, "We will finance (the increase in retirement payments) through a combination of funds from the social security system and the national treasury."
The leftist candidate will face a run-off election with the opposition candidate Mauricio Macri.
If Scioli wins the upcoming run-off election retirees could expect their benefits to go from 4,300 pesos a month to 4,969 pesos, a figure that amounts to around $520.
According to Scioli, his administration would incorporate a plan in which retirees would receive 83 percent of the current minimum wage. Aside from making an effort to raise benefits for retired citizens, Scioli has announced that he would eliminate the export tax on wheat and corn as well as gradually lower the 35 percent tax which Argentina has placed on soybean exports.
His more conservative opposition candidate, Macri, has been promising similar tax reforms throughout his campaign.
Previously, Scioli had made a point of saying that Argentina really needed no changes. In a recent interview in The Economist Scioli said, “The country is already stable. No shock or comprehensive economic package is needed. What people see in me is a calm, trustworthy person who can successfully carry out an agenda of integration and foment production.”
He did however admit that the demands of a society were always evolving.
The next president of Argentina will succeed President Cristina Fernandez Kirchner, and be the first leader after 12 years of what has been dubbed “Kirchnerism,” a time typified by a massive increase in socialist programs.
Either Scioli or Macri will be sworn into office on Dec. 10.
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