Global Courant
The Government expects “great progress” this week with the IMF and the payment of maturities owed in the coming days. That was one of the conclusions of the meeting that the Minister of Economy, Sergio Massa, held on Monday with his cabinet at the Palacio de Hacienda, after being anointed on Friday night as the presidential candidate for the ruling party.
“With the Fund, you know the complexity, but this week we are going to make great progress this week, we are going to advance everything that is the finalization of the agreement and the minister will most likely give a conference when it is finalized,” said the secretary of Economic Policy, Gabriel Rubinstein, on the entrance steps of the Palacio de Hacienda before the press.
Rubinstein was with Leonardo Madcur at the cabinet meeting. Both have been negotiating for more than two months a review of the program that allows it to be kept on track in the face of failure to meet most of the goals. Argentina requests an advance of disbursements for up to US$ 10,000 million to avoid a devaluation. But the trip to the US does not yet have a date.
The minister’s intention, according to another official who participated in the closed-door meeting on the fifth floor, is to first close an agreement before sending a delegation to Washington. Massa had already announced that he does not want the Fund to “run the bow”. “There is closeness with the IMF and the installment will be paid in the next few days,” he commented.
The Government had to pay US$2.7 billion to the agency on Wednesday and Thursday of last week. Initially, Massa had let it be known that he planned to pay an advance as a gesture of goodwill. But, in the midst of the interns for the candidacy, it was finally decided to postpone the payments until June 30.
The minister’s team left the meeting with the diagnosis that his candidacy had a positive financial impact. “The Fund views the candidate minister very favorably,” said Finance Secretary Eduardo Setti. “If the agreement is closed, different variables of the macroeconomics will be fixed,” he added.
In this sense, he pointed out that “this week will be very important, we will continue working with the Monetary Fund and we are very optimistic.” And he highlighted the effect on the markets, where Argentine shares rose more than 8% and dollar bonds, more than 3%. “We believe that the weather in the city today will be very good because the minister as a candidate is very well regarded,” he said.
The meeting behind closed doors was called at 8.30 and lasted until around noon. The Economy Minister discussed with his team measures aimed at generating “greater fiscal relief and economic development.” Investments from multilateral organizations, financing through banks and public funds, and employment and activity data were also discussed.
Massa’s agenda will continue this afternoon with the signing of agreements with France, Spain and Sweden to regularize the debt of US$ 1,972 million with the Paris Club. “We are very focused on management, that is what the minister asked us today debt normalization with the Paris Club is being completed, then there is Japan, which is quite bureaucratic,” Rubinstein said.
One of the open fronts is inflation. In May, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) slowed down to 7.8% monthly from 8.4% in April. Although in June it could continue to slow down, there is concern about its impact on income and poverty. “Inflation is very high and lowering it is a matter of concern, we always think about new measures,” said Rubinstein.
In the afternoon, Massa will have his first photo with Cristina Kirchner and Eduardo “Wado” de Pedro, after the lists close. He will participate in the act from 4:00 p.m. for the recovery of the plane that was used for the ESMA death flights. The activity will seek to heal the wounds opened by the collapse of the formula of Daniel Scioli – Victoria Tolosa Paz and “Wado” – Manzur.
Also participating in the meeting on Economy were the Secretaries of Industry, José Ignacio de Mendiguren; Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Juan José Bahillo; from the Treasury, Raúl Rigo; Legal and Administrative, Ricardo Casal; of Energy, Flavia Royón; of Commerce, Matías Tombolini; from Mining, Fernanda Ávila; and of International Financial Economic Affairs, Marco Lavagna.
Also present were the Secretaries of Development Planning and Federal Competitiveness, Jorge Neme; and from Knowledge Economy, Juan Manuel Cheppi; the head of Customs, Guillermo Michel; the Vice President of the BCRA, Lisandro Cleri; and the undersecretary of Commercial Policy and Management, Germán Cervantes, among others.
SN
