The Minister of Finance of La Pampa, Guido Bisterfeld, warned that the Province can currently sustain payments to public employees and apply palliative measures, but cannot resolve the causes of the crisis. His diagnosis is based on a progressive reduction of resources associated with the fall in consumption and a national adjustment that limits financing to the jurisdictions.
Bisterfeld presented fiscal balance as the foundation of the Pampean administration. He explained that the counter-cyclical fund was not designed to accumulate savings permanently, but to be used when conditions require it, as occurred during the pandemic. That support allows facing the current moment, although the official emphasized that it is finite and that at some point a change in the national economic context will be necessary.
Among the provincial tools, he listed the collective bargaining agreements with public sector workers that follow inflation, the promotions of Banco de La Pampa, and support for small and medium-sized enterprises. He attributed to this set the lowest level of family debt recorded in the province compared to the rest of the country. However, he pointed out that these decisions only moderate the impact and do not replace a macroeconomic policy capable of recovering activity and consumption.
The financial position of La Pampa includes a debt of 500 million pesos taken on in 2023 as an initial contribution from Fondo de Garantía Pampeano. Bisterfeld clarified that the first maturity will arrive in 2027 and that it is a loan obtained under favorable conditions. He also distinguished this limited commitment from the debts that other provinces maintain with the Nation.
The minister acknowledged a partial improvement in political dialogue with the presence of Diego Santilli, but said that he never had a meeting with Luis Caputo. Contacts are concentrated in second and third lines and do not easily translate into funds for the provinces. The opening of channels, therefore, does not yet change the resource problem he described for daily management.
Bisterfeld used Neuquén as an example of an economy that grows without addressing structural deficiencies in roads, schools, and hospitals. He also questioned that the so-called Súper RIGI benefits sectors with high profits. For La Pampa, the next limit does not arise from an immediate expiration, but from cumulative wear: as long as consumer contraction continues, the Province will be able to cushion the effects, but it will increasingly depend on a change in national policy.
