In a move to confront the growing threat of
recession, Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner Tuesday announced
a 21.5-billion-dollar (71-billion-peso) programme to create jobs in the
construction industry, dpa reported.
The aim is to expand the number of jobs in the sector from 362,000 to 770,000,
Kirchner said at the annual meeting of the building industry in Buenos Aires.
Details of the programme are to be unveiled on December 15.
Kirchner has already launched measures to encourage the return of capital
investments and the creation of new jobs. A new ministry of production is to be
created. Planning Minister Julio de Vido said the moneys are to be deployed over
a three-to-five year period, according to the newspaper La Nacion.
The funding is to come from the collective capital of private pension plans of
78 billion pesos. The controversial nationalization of the pension programmes
was approved last Thursday by parliament.
Economists are bracing for a possible recession next year in Argentina, which has seen 8 per cent growth rates for the past six years. In 2009,
Argentine growth could drop between 0.5 per cent to 1 per cent, experts say.
Reflecting the global economic downturn provoked by the turmoil in the US financial system, Argentina has seen dropping consumption, higher interest rates, capital
flight and plunging commodity prices for Argentine export goods such as soya
beans.