BUENOS AIRES--Argentina's President Cristina Kirchner has pledged tougher measures against businesses that raise prices, as her administration tries to stabilize an economy suffering from double-digit inflation and hard currency shortages.
"I think that among the many things that will be on the legislative agenda this year, we in the executive and the congress are going to have to approve measures that for once and for all defend consumers from abuse by powerful sectors, oligopolies and monopolies," Mrs. Kirchner said on Saturday in a televised speech in Congress.
She didn't detail what those measures might be. The Kirchner administration slapped price controls on almost 200 supermarket items at the start of the year to contain the second-highest rate of inflation in the Americas after Venezuela.
In addition, the government had said it would fine or close offending stores. The most recent private-sector estimates put Argentine annual inflation at around 30%.
The wave of price increases following the 15% devaluation of the peso in mid-January are unjustified and constitute the looting of Argentines' pocketbooks, Mrs. Kirchner told law makers on Saturday during the inauguration of the 2014 legislative session.
That appeared to be music to the ears of Andres Calabrasa, a 45-year-old public-school teacher and communist party member from Santa Fe province who was one of tens of thousands of Kirchner supporters gathered outside Congress beating drums and waving Argentine flags and banners emblazoned with Mrs. Kirchner's name or that of Argentina's iconic former first lady Eva Peron.
"Cristina is taking on the monopolies and powerful sectors," said Mr. Calabrasa, who thinks that special interest groups are stoking inflation to turn the people against the government. Mrs. Kirchner faces what could be Argentina's most challenging economic headwinds since her late husband, Néstor Kirchner, took office in May 2003.
Most economists say annual uinflation has been running above 20% for years due in part to the government's reliance on money printing to cover deficits.
Capital flight by inflation-weary investors and debt payments have depleted the central bank's foreign currency reserves, which forced Mrs. Kirchner's administration to break a long standing promise and devalue the peso this year.
Many economists think the economy grew about 3% last year. But inflation and dollar shortages that have forced the government to cut imports are hurting growth. Most economists expect the Argentine economy to grow just 0.9% this year, according to a survey by FocusEconomics.
Some are more pessimistic, with Barclays and Bank of AmericaMerrill Lynch forecasting a recession. In recent months, the government has grudgingly adopted more conventional economic policies like raising interest rates to head off a potential financial crisis before Mrs. Kirchner steps down in December 2015.
Still, the Kirchner administration will continue to reduce subsidies for wealthy people who don't need them, Economy Minister Axel Kicillof said last week. In a more than three hour speech, Mrs. Kirchner defended the redistributive economic policies that have characterized the combative, left wing style of populism espoused by the Kirchners.
The 61-year-old president's popularity has fallen dramatically since the heady days of October 2011, when she won a second term with a historic 54% of the vote.
High inflation, dollar rationing and perceptions the government isn't addressing key issues like fighting crime have eroded her political support. Even so, her Victory Front coalition managed to retain its majorities in both houses of Congress in midterm elections last year.
The president also enjoys the backing of a large minority of Argentines like Julieta Diaz, 58, an attorney and professor at the University of Buenos Aires who participates in a pro-government activist group. "I have faith that the president is on the right path.
She is confronting the economic sectors that set prices. When you see their margins you understand. They always want more," Mrs. Diaz said outside Congress.
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"I think that among the many things that will be on the legislative agenda this year, we in the executive and the congress are going to have to approve measures that for once and for all defend consumers from abuse by powerful sectors, oligopolies and monopolies," Mrs. Kirchner said on Saturday in a televised speech in Congress.
She didn't detail what those measures might be. The Kirchner administration slapped price controls on almost 200 supermarket items at the start of the year to contain the second-highest rate of inflation in the Americas after Venezuela.
In addition, the government had said it would fine or close offending stores. The most recent private-sector estimates put Argentine annual inflation at around 30%.
The wave of price increases following the 15% devaluation of the peso in mid-January are unjustified and constitute the looting of Argentines' pocketbooks, Mrs. Kirchner told law makers on Saturday during the inauguration of the 2014 legislative session.
That appeared to be music to the ears of Andres Calabrasa, a 45-year-old public-school teacher and communist party member from Santa Fe province who was one of tens of thousands of Kirchner supporters gathered outside Congress beating drums and waving Argentine flags and banners emblazoned with Mrs. Kirchner's name or that of Argentina's iconic former first lady Eva Peron.
"Cristina is taking on the monopolies and powerful sectors," said Mr. Calabrasa, who thinks that special interest groups are stoking inflation to turn the people against the government. Mrs. Kirchner faces what could be Argentina's most challenging economic headwinds since her late husband, Néstor Kirchner, took office in May 2003.
Most economists say annual uinflation has been running above 20% for years due in part to the government's reliance on money printing to cover deficits.
Capital flight by inflation-weary investors and debt payments have depleted the central bank's foreign currency reserves, which forced Mrs. Kirchner's administration to break a long standing promise and devalue the peso this year.
Many economists think the economy grew about 3% last year. But inflation and dollar shortages that have forced the government to cut imports are hurting growth. Most economists expect the Argentine economy to grow just 0.9% this year, according to a survey by FocusEconomics.
Some are more pessimistic, with Barclays and Bank of AmericaMerrill Lynch forecasting a recession. In recent months, the government has grudgingly adopted more conventional economic policies like raising interest rates to head off a potential financial crisis before Mrs. Kirchner steps down in December 2015.
Still, the Kirchner administration will continue to reduce subsidies for wealthy people who don't need them, Economy Minister Axel Kicillof said last week. In a more than three hour speech, Mrs. Kirchner defended the redistributive economic policies that have characterized the combative, left wing style of populism espoused by the Kirchners.
The 61-year-old president's popularity has fallen dramatically since the heady days of October 2011, when she won a second term with a historic 54% of the vote.
High inflation, dollar rationing and perceptions the government isn't addressing key issues like fighting crime have eroded her political support. Even so, her Victory Front coalition managed to retain its majorities in both houses of Congress in midterm elections last year.
The president also enjoys the backing of a large minority of Argentines like Julieta Diaz, 58, an attorney and professor at the University of Buenos Aires who participates in a pro-government activist group. "I have faith that the president is on the right path.
She is confronting the economic sectors that set prices. When you see their margins you understand. They always want more," Mrs. Diaz said outside Congress.
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