Mendoza government enacts debt relief and teacher housing laws

The government of Alfredo Cornejo in Mendoza has enacted two significant legislative measures aimed at financial relief and social welfare.

The Mendoza Senate has passed the Financial Relief Law, which provides tax incentives to encourage banks and financial entities to offer better refinancing conditions for individuals and legal entities. To reduce delinquency rates, the law exempts refinancing operations from Stamp Tax and allows entities to access a reduced Gross Income tax rate of 5%, provided they offer an annual nominal rate of up to 40% and a minimum term of 24 months. The initiative seeks to mitigate credit risk without the provincial state assuming private debts.

Additionally, a new law has been promulgated to expand the use of the Permanent School Fund (Fondo Escolar Permanente). This reform allows the province to utilize these resources, which exceed $500 million, to finance housing for approximately 23,000 teachers and school staff. The funds, along with resources from vacant inheritances and unused state assets, will be used as guarantees to facilitate mortgage credit and urban developments in coordination with the Provincial Housing Institute (IPV) and private developers. Registrations for these housing programs are projected to open between September and October.