By 2019, in the midst of the democratic transition between the administrations of presidents Mauricio Macri and Alberto Fernandez, the last few quarters had seen a 35-38 percent increase in poverty across Argentina.

It was in this context of crisis that the country was hit the coronavirus pandemic.

And the outlook is not encouraging in socio-economic terms because of thelockdown that brought the economy to a halt. This includes jobs in the private sector as well as the informal one, which in Argentina is a very important option for many.

To analyze this context, RAE-Argentina al Mundo spoke with Agustín Salvia, director of the Social Observatory of the UCA, who considered that this "shock situation" will result in poverty rates surging.

/// The pandemic is like a shock effect. Poverty, which even by official statistics edged at 35 percent by the the last quarter of 2019, was probably even higher in the first months of the year, and with the quarantine and the pandemic over these past two months it is probably even worse. We still have to look at the figures: what is going to happen with prices, what is going to happen with income and employment, especially informal employment. In this context, obviously the floor on which we are going to be working is between 35 and 38 percent. Therefore, beyond the quarantine period and for a couple of months, we will be working at an estimated 40 percent (of poverty) in the country. ///

Translation and VO: Fernando Farías
Interview and production: Silvana Avellaneda
Web Production: Julián Cortez