1887

2019 OECD Economic Surveys: Argentina 2019

image of OECD Economic Surveys: Argentina 2019

Over many decades, Argentina’s economy has been held back by weak policy settings and productivity has stagnated. Recent and additional reforms will help to raise prosperity for all Argentinians in the medium term. Strengthening competition by reducing barriers to market entry and foreign trade has particularly high payoffs. Tariff barriers have prevented a stronger integration into the world economy, which could raise consumer purchasing power, reduce the cost of firms’ inputs and lead companies in shielded sectors to become more productive. Currently, many jobs are trapped in activities with limited potential for productivity and wage growth. As job reallocation can result in temporary income losses, policies should ease the transition by enhancing training and social protection. Social policies are effective in reducing inequalities and poverty continued its declining trend during 2016 and 2017, until a severe economic crisis pushed the economy into a deep recession in 2018. This has shifted the immediate policy focus to restoring confidence and unwinding significant fiscal and external imbalances. Swift and decisive policy responses were necessary and their implementation will lay the grounds for a return of macroeconomic stability and a recovery from the recession, although significant risks remain.

SPECIAL FEATURE: FOSTERING INTEGRATION INTO THE WORLD ECONOMY

English Also available in: Spanish, French

Decreasing output tariffs boosts productivity, but can reduce employment in a few sectors

Average increase of economic activity and exports (in %) when output tariffs are cut by 50%

English

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error