Population. A 1943 decree abolished the Los Andes territory. The four departments into which it was divided: Susques, Pastos Grandes, Antofagasta de la Sierra and San Antonio de los Cobres were incorporated: the first (9554 sq. Km) from the province of Jujuy; the fourth and second (respectively 1207 and 23.994 sq. km.) from that of Salta, the third (27.887 sq. km.) from that of Catamarca.
The provisional data of the census carried out in May 1947 put the population at 16,107,930 residents, That is 5.9 per sq km. The following table gives the absolute and relative population of the provinces and territories at that date.
According to Iamaccepted, the population of the main cities, again as of May 1947, was as follows: Buenos Aires (municipality, therefore without the suburbs) 4,065,117; Santa Fe 150,000; Tucumán 165,000; Bahía Blanca 115,000; Mendoza 110,180; Parchment 90,000; Paraná 75,000; Santiago del Estero 70,000; Junín 70,000; Chivilcoy 58,000; Corrientes 68,000; Mar del Plata 85,000.
Economic conditions. – All economic activities have undergone a boost with the adoption of the five-year plan, drawn up at the beginning of 1947 by the government of General Perón, which provides for the rational reorganization of the state administration, national defense and the economy, with a complete exploitation of all natural resources and a strengthening of industries.
Wheat production was 64 million quintals in 1942-43, 68 million quintals. in 1943-44, dropping to 40 million q. in 1944-45 and 39 in 1945-46, to go back in 1946-47 to 60 million q. (910 kg. Per hectare), obtained from an area of 6,539,000 ha.
The cultivation of maize, which occupies about 4 million ha., Has given in recent years a production of 20 to 40 million q. In 1946-47 the production of other cereals was as follows: oats (1.694.700 ha.) 8.3 million q.; barley (1.368.000 ha.) 12.352.000 q.; rye (1.943.900 ha.) 5.689.000 q.; that of rice in 1946 (49.300 ha.) 556.000 q. Among the Argentine industrial crops that of cotton continued in its progress, which gave in 1945-46 1,300,000 q. (cultivated area 374.700. ha.); those of tobacco (27,500 ha., 292,000 q. in 1945-46) and sugar cane (250,200 ha., 8,319,000 q.) also recorded progress in the cultivated area and in production, while that of seed flax (1,864,800 ha., 9,641,000 q.) has undergone a decrease in surface area and production.
There was a strong increase in the production of edible oil (peanut 1.391.000 q. In 1945-46; sunflower 890.000 q. In the same agricultural year); the production of olive oil remains minimal (5000 ha. and 8.000 q. in 1943-44)
An estimate of livestock in 1945 gave: 34 million cattle, 56,200,000 goats and sheep, 8,500,000 horses, 8 million pigs. The production of dairy products is constantly increasing (in 1945 the following were produced: 434.850 quintals of butter; 291.770 quintals of casein; 808.940 quintals of cheese). In 1945, 2,325,000 quintals of wool were produced, of which 605,000 were washed.
The mining industry has developed in recent years, particularly that of lead (29,700 t. In 1942), zinc, sulfur and vanadium, and the extraction of tungsten has had a notable increase (Sierra de San Luis 1,280 t.. in 1942). Oil production reached 2,964,000 t in 1946. The refining industry had a production capacity of 5 million q in 1941. annually and counted 20 plants, mostly along the Plata. In 1942, 675 million cubic meters of natural gas were produced. A pipeline for the transport of gas from Comodoro Rivadavía, near the Gulf of S. Jorge (the main area where oil is extracted) to Buenos Aires is under construction (for a total length of 1670 km.). The coal mines of Río Turbio (San Juan) have been activated, whose fields are valued at 100 million t. Coal is of good quality and offers a calorific value ranging between 6200 and 6500 calories.
The exploitation of hydroelectric resources is underway. The construction of the Salto Grande power plant on Uruguay has begun, which will include a dam of 2000 meters in length and 25 in height, with an estimated production of 3 million kW, equivalent to the total consumption of Argentina; the artificial lake that will result from the dam will have an area of 600 sq km. and a capacity of 3000 million cubic meters. of water. Work then began in Rosario de Santa Fe for the construction of a thermoelectric power plant with an expected potential of 50,000 kW, while the construction of the power plant on the Río Tercero, in the province of Córdoba, with a power of 15,000 kW was completed.
Among the food industries, tomato puree has had enormous development in recent years (12,570,000 ha. And 556,000 q. Of tomatoes in 1945-46), now able to cover the entire national needs, and that of pasta has also been developed. With the sugar produced in increasing quantities, huge quantities of alcohol are manufactured (481,000 hl. In 1945-46). Among other industries, that of rubber already tends to be sufficient for internal consumption. The cement industry is developing (1,156,000 tons in 1946); the industries of colors, perfumes, hats and paper remain in deficit. The evolution of the pharmaceutical industry has been very rapid, now able to cover almost the entire internal needs and also to feed a good export. L’ The wool industry has made significant progress in recent years (150,000 spindles of which 85,000 from carded and the rest from worsted), covering 1/4 of the internal needs for fabrics. The cotton industry has 370,000 spindles (compared to 251,000 in 1936) and 6400 looms, which is attributed with a production capacity of 40% compared to national consumption. About 300 companies for silk and rayon ascend, but the yarns that feed them are almost entirely imported.
Overall, the value of industrial production has reached, and even exceeded, that of agricultural production and livestock breeding, basic activities of the town’s economy. The phenomenon, a direct consequence of the exceptional conditions created by the war, began before 1914 and was accentuated during the Second World War. The industrial development of the country can be summarized in the following figures:
Communications and transport . – The railways totaled 42,800 km in 1945; those owned by Anglo-American were bought by the Argentine government with an agreement dated 1 July 1946.
Commerce. – Trade exchanges with foreign countries reached in 1946 the never reached figure of 6,267,700,000 pesos before, with exports for a value of 3,937,400,000 pesos and imports for a value of 2,330,300,000 pesos, with 8,341,100,000 t. of import and 8,150,500,000 of export. Here is the value of exports and imports (in millions of pesos m / n, i.e. paper pesos) from 1942 to 1946:
As can be seen, the trade balance has always remained favorable.
Finance. – The war brought about a significant improvement in Argentina’s domestic and international financial situation, allowing it to use the strong surplus of the balance of payments for the repayment of the foreign public debt (which at the end of 1947 was completely extinguished), for the transfer in Argentine hands of a large part of foreign investments (especially British) for the purchase of raw materials and equipment necessary for the industrialization of the country and, starting from the last quarter of 1946, also for the granting of credits and loans abroad, for an amount that at the end of 1947 exceeded one billion pesos.
With the coming to power of the nationalist government of General Perón, there has been a progressive intervention of the state in the field of the economy, which has had its most relevant manifestations: a) in the banking reform, carried out in the months from March to May 1946 with the nationalization of Banco Central de la República Argentina and the three most important banks in the country (Banco de la Nación Argentina, Banco de Crédito Industrial and Banco Hipotecario Nacional) and with the attribution to Banco Central of control over foreign exchange, imports, banks and credit, the latter implemented through the rigid form of transferring to the same Banco the availability of all bank deposits, which have been covered with the guarantee state, remaining the credit companies authorized to act as simple agents of Banco Central, with the right to use in their own name only the funds coming from the capital and reserves; b) in the state monopoly for the export of certain products through an autonomous government body, the Instituto Argentino de Promoción del Intercambio (IAPI), established in May 1946; c) in the nationalization of many public service companies; and finally d) in the vast five-year plan, begun in 1947, which involves interventions in practically all sectors of activity in the country and an overall estimated expenditure of 6.7 billion pesos, to be used in approximately equal parts to increase production electricity, for the development of the transport system and for public works and other social activities; the financing of the plan should be provided for the most part with the IAPI management profits.
The figures of the state budgets from 1938 to 1948 are shown below:
At December 31, 1947, the public debt amounted to 11.7 billion pesos, of which 9 billion was consolidated.
At March 31, 1948, the circulation amounted to 4,593 million pesos (December 1939: = 1,063 million), and was covered by a gold and foreign exchange reserve of 3,153 million; at the same date bank deposits had risen to 11,540 million, of which 6,933 at sight.
In September 1939 the peso was pegged to the dollar on the basis of 3.37 pesos per dollar. This quotation now constitutes the “preferential” exchange rate of sale of the currency necessary to pay for the imports of goods considered essential. Alongside this, the currency authorities, in the exercise of a complex policy of multiple exchange rates, have gradually introduced numerous other exchange rates, applicable to the various types of operations.
Argentina is not part of the International Monetary Fund.
