The economy grew by 5.5%, but Kicillof doubles down on his rejection of the RIGI and drags the province away from the national trend.
Far from revising this strategy, Kicillof again attacked the scheme promoted by the national government. The Buenos Aires governor stated that “only 3% of the announced projects have been executed” and described the results of the regime as “tiny”. He also argued that there is a stage of “disinvestment” and questioned the benefits granted to large foreign capital.
The governor even claimed that the internal market “is detonating” and criticized the “anarcho-capitalist” orientation of the national Government, considering that the RIGI represents a form of “covert public spending.” According to his argument, the exemptions and tax benefits imply resources “that the State will not have”.
However, the numbers from March show a different scenario than that described by the Buenos Aires kirchnerism. The economic recovery began to be reflected in strategic sectors, and the industry showed signs of reactivation again. In fact, industrial installed capacity recorded a strong improvement during March and approached 60%, consolidating the best figure of the year.
While provinces of different political signs advance to attract energy, mining, and industrial investments, Buenos Aires remains trapped in a confrontational logic with the private sector. The result is becoming increasingly visible: the country shows signs of recovery, but the province managed by Kicillof continues to lose competitiveness and drift away from the new economic trend.
While much of Argentina begins to show concrete signs of economic recovery, the province of Buenos Aires is once again at the center of criticism for going in the opposite direction of the rest of the country. The latest report from INDEC confirmed that economic activity grew by 5.5% year-on-year in March and recorded a strong monthly increase of 3.5%, driven by the recovery of key sectors such as industry, agriculture, mining, and construction.
In the midst of this scenario, Axel Kicillof decided to deepen his confrontation with the Regime of Incentives for Large Investments (RIGI), one of the main bets of the Government of Javier Milei to attract capital and reactivate the economy. While various provinces are advancing to attract investments and join the new growth cycle, Buenos Aires remains lagging behind, with higher tax pressure, bureaucratic hurdles, and an economic model that increasingly shows signs of exhaustion.
With fourteen of the fifteen sectors of the economy growing, the EMAE showed concrete signs of growth in key activities such as industry, mining, construction, commerce, and agriculture. Agriculture and livestock grew by 17.9%, mining climbed by 16.3%, and the manufacturing industry grew by 4.6%.
In this context, the situation in Buenos Aires is starting to differentiate itself more clearly from the rest of the country. The province governed by Kicillof continues to not adhere to the RIGI, maintains high tax pressure, and accumulates criticisms for the deterioration of essential services, insecurity, and bureaucratic obstacles that discourage private investments.
