Argentina: Economic Issues at The Center of Campaign Closures

On Thursday, the Argentine political parties closed their campaigns amid citizen discontent due to the increase in the inflation rate and the deterioration of the exchange rate.

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President Alberto Fernandez's party Front of All (FT) and the right-wing opposition alliance "Together for Change" (JC) carried out mass events in Buenos Aires province, an electoral district that concentrates 37 percent of registered voters. At his party's meeting, Fernandez defended the achievements of his administration by pointing out that his country is moving towards higher levels of production and employment.

"We'll take firm steps so that economic growth reaches every citizen. It is not enough for us that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grows more than nine points if the life of Argentines does not improve," he said.

Besides highlighting the economic recovery and the vaccination plan, the Argentine president harshly attacked the opposition, reminding it of the economic disaster that President Mauricio Macri (2015-2019) left as an inheritance.

"We were mired in a country with unpayable debt and with 23,000 small and medium-sized companies that went bankrupt. A country without Health Ministry or Labor Ministry. That is the country left to us by those who say they will solve all problems," the leftist politician stressed.

In an attempt to downplay the Fernandez administration's achievements, the JC candidates closed their campaigns by highlighting that year-on-year inflation reached 52.1 percent in October and the U.S. dollar was quoted at 206.5 Argentine pesos at the informal market.

On Sunday, the Argentines will renew 127 out of 257 Lower House seats and 24 out of 72 Senate seats. If the trends observed in the September primary elections continue, conservative forces might get over 40 percent of the vote and the Left might obtain 30 percent of citizen preferences.