Argentine farmer Javier Rotondo says he should be reaping a historic bounty with grain prices surging to their highest level in years.
Instead, he reduced his corn crop by 20% after authorities temporarily suspended exports to reduce food prices, one of several measures by Argentina’s leftist government that economists say are suffocating business. Mr. Rotondo expects to take on debt to pay a new wealth tax, and he is bracing for price controls after President Alberto Fernández recently warned ranchers that rising beef prices won’t be tolerated.
“There’s a lot of uncertainty. They are implementing crazy policies that don’t make much sense,” Mr. Rotondo said from his farm in the central Córdoba province. “There will be less investments, less production, and that’ll be very negative.”
Three years into a grinding recession, Argentina’s economy is in the worst shape it has been since a 2001 debt default that led to rioting and deaths in the street.
By wsj
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