The Córdoba Stock Exchange warned that the pension reform undermines credit for SMEs.

The Córdoba Stock Exchange expressed its rejection of an article in the pension reform approved in the Senate. This concerns the one that eliminates tax benefits for contributions to the SGR Risk Fund. The measure directly impacts the system that guarantees financing for SMEs throughout the country.

Through a statement, the Exchange indicated that  this decision undermines a tool that sustains 70% of formal private employment. SMEs represent 99% of Argentine companies, and many depend on this system to survive. Defunding it is equivalent to leaving them without real access to credit.

According to the entity, productive credit in Argentina barely reaches 11% of GDP. In that context, SGRs have been key to preventing financial exclusion. "Weakening the SGR system is weakening SME credit," the institution warned.

The system that operates without subsidies or clientelism

SGRs operate with contributions that can be deducted from Income Tax but immobilize capital and assume losses if the SME fails to comply. There are no state subsidies or public spending, but rather private commitment with real impact on employment, investment, and production. Unlike so many inefficient programs sustained by the State, this model demonstrates that development can also be driven by the private sector.

Thanks to this network, more than 100,000 MSMEs have accessed formal financing, with a delinquency rate below 2%, which demonstrates the system's effectiveness. Meanwhile, some choose to multiply uncontrolled social plans; this mechanism strengthens the business fabric with responsibility and results. Kirchnerism, which promoted this reform, seems determined to weaken everything that escapes its welfare and bureaucratic logic.

The Exchange stated that the fiscal cost is only 0.04% of GDP and is far from the 0.1% that some cited to justify this decision. That low impact is more than offset by the higher revenue caused by financed companies, which pay VAT, Income Tax, and contributions. Instead of valuing that, the choice is to punish efficiency, in a move that harms SMEs and development.

A wrong signal for those who bet on the country

The statement concludes with a call to review this decision and to support public policies that accompany those who produce and generate employment, not punish them. It keeps that  SGRs are an investment in the future and that eliminating them goes against what Argentina needs to grow and generate real employment. Growth and jobs can't be demanded while taking away tools from those who make growth and work possible.

Eliminating this benefit puts SMEs at risk and punishes those who invest in them without expecting subsidies or favors from the State. The system doesn't need subsidies because it is self-financed and self-regulated, and that seems to bother those who only know how to build power through clientelism. This reform doesn't strengthen the State or protect resources, it simply weakens those who still choose to produce in Argentina.

From Córdoba, the Exchange called for common sense and coherence: it is not possible to talk about development while at the same time destroying the tools that make it possible. Politics should serve those who work, not be in permanent conflict with the private sector. Kirchnerism wants to weaken the government but ends up harming those who create value, employment, and future every day.