Economy Minister Hernán Lorenzino delivered the 2013 budget proposal to Congress today, giving the nation a peek into the executive branch’s vision for the coming year.

The proposal predicts an exchange rate of $5.10 to the dollar, growth at 3.4%, and growth in investment at 7.4%. The official inflation rate is estimated to hit 10.7% by the end of 2012 and 10.8% in 2013. Tax revenue is expected to total over $822bn, a 22.7% increase from 2012, reflecting at least in part, a rise in inflation. The trade surplus, according to official estimates, will be more than US$13bn.

The current policy of paying off foreign debt with reserves will be continued up until US$7.8bn. This cap exceeds the US$5.7bn paid in 2012 by 40% and 2011’s US$7.5bn by 5%.

Agustín Rossi, Congressional Head of the Frente para la Victoria (FPV), the same party to which President Cristina Fernández de Kircher belongs, was optimistic about the proposal. He applauded the continuation of “social investment” and debt reduction, and commented that the proposal used a “level of reasonable expectations” for growth. He predicted the Budget and Treasury Commission would begin to consider the proposal next Wednesday and that by late October, the congressional Lower House would have approved it and passed it to the Senate.