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News > Argentina

Argentinians Will Receive Again Gov't Aid Amid COVID-19

  • Argentina was the first Latin American country to declare a public health emergency due to COVID-19 on March 12

    Argentina was the first Latin American country to declare a public health emergency due to COVID-19 on March 12 | Photo: AFP

Published 23 June 2020
Opinion

The previous IFE payment, made in April and May, prevented between 2.7 and 4.5 million people to fall into poverty and indigence.

Argentinian authorities Tuesday released a second round of the Emergency Family Income (IFE), a payment aimed for low-income families or informal workers unable to pay their bills because of the nationwide shutdown ordered to halt the spread of the coronavirus.

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On Tuesday, the National Social Security Administration (ANSES) will start to pay 10,000 pesos equivalent to  US$145 at the official exchange rate. It is estimated that the initiative covers about 8.3 million people.

According to the official website of Argentina's presidency, the previous IFE payment, made in April, prevented between 2.7 and 4.5 million people to fall into poverty and indigence.

"IFE is one of the biggest transfers the government has made since the COVID-19 pandemic and has helped to stop the stretching of the inequality gap", the government said on its website.

The grant is one of several economic assistance programs the government has implemented since March when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country. Other financial aid includes the Universal Child Allowance, Maternity Allowance, the food program, and pensions for retirees, which were the firsts to receive bonuses.

"Calendar payment for unemployment. To open your account and start charging with your credit card you have to present yourself to the bank branch you have been assigned. Remember that due to isolation the attention in banks requires previous bank appointment."
 

The government informed that the whole set of transfers has generated a "containment poverty net calculated by six to eight points". 

Argentina was the first Latin American country to declare a public health emergency due to COVID-19 on March 12. Ever since Alberto Fernandez's government has implemented a strategy of severe lockdown and social restrictions alongside economic packages to help the most needed, as the poverty index left by the previous administrations amounts to 40 percent.

The government has made every employer, regardless of trade and size, eligible for the Emergency Aid Program for Work and Production, postponing or reducing taxes on small businesses by up to 95 percent and paying employees half to all the monthly minimum wage.

On the other hand, more than US$30 million has been allocated for food aid alone, with national, provincial, and municipal authorities mobilizing many to work in public kitchens.

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