Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Macri rules out 90-day suspension of export taxes on soybeans

President-elect Mauricio Macri today came on stage to deny reports that one of his first measures once he takes office on December 10 would be the suspension of taxes on soybean exports during 90 days to boost the Central Bank’s dollar reserves.

"No, I don’t know who spread it. Our proposal for the agricultural sector remains the same as we have expressed from the first day. There is no change about it,” Macri told reporters.

The president of the Argentine Rural Society Luis Miguel Etchevehere assured “the elimination or temporary modification of soybean export taxes is a rumour, we’d rather be cautious.” He asked to “control the anxiety” because “we don’t want to feed a rumour which can be damaging.”

He recalled “the electoral promise was to eliminate all taxes on grain exports, except on soybean, which would be gradually reduced by 5 percent per year.”

"I suppose that when the new government takes office, the confidence will make producers to sow and liquidate more (…) we will have to see if they do what they promised which we believe is the correct thing,” he added.