Infrastructure debate: Santilli defends zero deficit as governors and companies call for more investment

Argentina’s infrastructure needs are colliding with the government’s decision to minimize direct federal spending on public works. That tension dominated the third meeting of the seventh Democracia y Desarrollo series, organized by Clarín at Buenos Aires’ MALBA museum under the theme “Infrastructure for Development.”

Cabinet Chief Diego Santilli joined governors Ignacio Torres of Chubut, Juan Pablo Valdés of Corrientes, Rolando Figueroa of Neuquén, Alfredo Cornejo of Mendoza and Gustavo Sáenz of Salta. Gabriel Katopodis, Buenos Aires province’s public works minister, and representatives of major companies and industry, construction and agricultural groups also attended.

Several speakers shared the view that inadequate infrastructure is weakening competitiveness. The debate focused on who should finance new projects, what legal frameworks should govern them and how much the state should participate.

Santilli outlined the national government’s model: preserve a zero deficit, promote concessions and public-private partnerships, and attract capital through instruments such as the Incentive Regime for Large Investments, known as RIGI. “The challenge is to ensure that infrastructure does not become a source of deficit again,” he said. “Argentina cannot repeat the model in which the state announces major projects it later cannot finance, but neither can we accept the current infrastructure gap. Maintaining fiscal balance is non-negotiable.”

He said the private sector should take a leading role through clear rules, legal certainty and profitable concessions. Business leaders Roberto Murchison, Roberto Nobile, Carlos Bacher, Martín Eurnekian and Rodolfo Freyre argued that the condition of transport, telecommunications and energy networks is critically constraining productive development. The discussion cited Rosario Stock Exchange data indicating that transporting a ton of grain from Salta to the ports of Greater Rosario can cost up to 20 times more than moving it from the...

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The challenge is to ensure that infrastructure does not become a source of deficit again. Argentina cannot repeat the model in which the state announces major projects it later cannot finance, but neither can we accept the current infrastructure gap. Maintaining fiscal balance is non-negotiable. We want the private sector to take a leading role through clear rules, legal certainty and profitable concessions.