While Javier Milei’s government continues with its chainsaw, SMEs are bleeding out. Ahead of the winter recess, a group of centrist opposition deputies applied pressure and presented a bill that promises to be a lifeline for small and medium-sized enterprises, suffocated by import deregulation, lack of consumption, and mass store closures. The initiative, dubbed the ‘Comprehensive SME Promotion Regime,’ seeks nothing less than an urgent rescue for a sector that, according to figures, generates 65% of registered employment and accounts for 42% of GDP.
The bill’s author is National Deputy Nicolás Massot of Encuentro Federal, who did not mince words: ‘Despite the critical situation facing small and medium-sized enterprises in the country, all special incentive programs created so far by the national government (RIGI) only target the energy, mining, and technology sectors. That’s why we need a regulatory framework to rescue and promote SMEs,’ the Buenos Aires native fired, also defining them as ‘the productive heart of the country.’
The bill is backed by about twenty lawmakers, including Martín Lousteau, Gisela Scaglia, Carolina Basualdo, Miguel Ángel Pichetto, and Oscar Zago, among others. The move seeks to halt the bleeding: according to official data, since December 2023, 22,000 small and medium-sized enterprises have closed, victims of the recession and indiscriminate import liberalization.
Among the bill’s standout measures is a 50% reduction in employer contributions for three years for SMEs that hire new workers. It also proposes eliminating the tax on bank debits and credits for the sector, reducing the Income Tax rate to 20%, granting benefits for reinvestment in capital goods, and ensuring fiscal stability. In terms of financing, the initiative creates the Automatic Credit Rating System (SACC-Pyme) to facilitate access to productive credit and includes a Simplified Liability Restructuring System, which would allow suspending foreclosures, bankruptcy petitions, and other precautionary measures for up to 120 days while companies proceed with a reorganization process.
Additionally, it incorporates a special tax regularization regime for companies with tax difficulties and creates the Federal SME Agency (AFePyMe), conceived as a one-stop shop to channel financing, technical assistance, and tax benefits. According to reports, the text ‘is based on successful guidelines from Brazil, Colombia, and Peru.’
Meanwhile, in the Chamber of Deputies, the outlook is one of total paralysis. ‘Everything points to it being dead until August,’ commented a bloc allied with the Casa Rosada. The agenda of the hard opposition (Unión por la Patria and the Frente de Izquierda) and the centrists had Manuel Adorni in their sights, but the controversial former chief of staff resigned just before a very close censure motion that was advancing in both chambers. In the ruling party, the ‘Lobby Law’ project has been sidelined due to lack of agreements, and the ‘Anti-Barras Law’ barely had a committee plenary session.
Massot’s bill arrives at a critical moment, with SMEs crying out for help. The question is whether the ruling party, which is betting everything on RIGI for large investments, will be willing to lend a hand to those who truly sustain the economy. For now, the centrist opposition has put the issue on the table. Now it remains to be seen whether the government reacts or continues to look the other way while SMEs fall apart.
Para mí esto huele a otro verso de los vendepatria del centro. Massot y su patota quieren parchar el desastre con migajas del FMI mientras los laburantes nos rompemos el lomo. No es rescate, es maquillaje electoral. ¡Basta de tibios, abajo la motosierra de Milei!
Para mí estos zurdos de mierda no entienden nada, Milei tiene razón, el mercado se limpia solo. Las pymes que no sirven tienen que fundirse, basta de parches estatales. Me parece que quieren currar con el rescate, dejá que los vagos laburen, lacras.