Argentina and International Monetary Fund (IMF) They agreed to ensure the continuity of the program signed during the previous administration of Peronist Alberto Fernández. In this way, the far-right government managed to remove the obstacle. $4.7 billion worth of shipments It will serve to largely pay off the debt to the financial institution, which is due this month and in April. In contrast, administration Javier Milei It must pay approximately $600 million in interest in February.
“This is not a new deal. The previous era, which collapsed due to non-compliance with targets, was revived. “Reintroducing this agreement required greater determination to overcome the lack of confidence in the last two periods,” explained Economy Minister Luis ‘Toto’ Caputo. The deal was received positively in the markets, where Milei’s shock and privatization program aroused sympathy.
Right-wing government in 2018 Mauricio Macri received a $45 billion loan The IMF, which partially disappeared as a result of capital flight. Caputo was the head of the Central Bank at that time, and his performance was subject to serious criticism from the organization. Fernández refinanced this obligation at a high political cost: he lost the 2021 parliamentary elections as a result of the agreed arrangement, paving the way for the electoral victory of Milei, who appointed Caputo as economic helmsman.
The Minister said that the IMF would be ready to make new payments if necessary. However, he underlined this idea be consistent with the austerity program, Improve international reserves and reduce inflation, which is 160% in 2023 and will reach 20% in December alone. “We must solve the country’s dependence on public spending,” said the minister, who devalued the national currency by 118% as soon as he took office.
Five months ago, the IMF approved a review of the program with Argentina due to friction with the then Minister of Economy. Sergio Massa, is Peronism’s presidential candidate at this point. After Massa accepted the 20 percent devaluation, the organization transferred $7.5 billion. In response, the IMF demanded a reduction in public salaries and an increase in public service rates, measures that Milei approved.
Things could get worse
Negotiations with the International Monetary Fund coincided with the presence of Milei ministers in Congress to defend the draconian Omnibus Bill aimed at providing legal support for the conservative revolution. This initiative declares that this country is in a “state of public emergency” and tries to take the necessary measures based on this diagnosis. eliminates the regulatory framework in the economic, financial, financial spheres, the state pension system and cultural and sports activities. But it is also trying to minimize the opposition capacity on the streets. An attempt by the legislature to approve or reject excessive restrictions on the right to protest as a complement to the restrictions on the right to strike defined in the previous Decree of Necessity and Urgency (DNU).
Caputo said that if this ambitious law is not approved by Congress, “It would be very bad news.“This will cause bigger problems for the people than famine and job loss. “If the law is not passed Measures will become even tougher. And the Argentines will suffer more than them. It is extremely important that this law be passed in order to do this in the most harmonious way possible.” According to the minister, the Omnibus Law “lays the foundations for the reconstruction of the country.” He assured that the implementation of this law will enable Argentina to become a greater state. “One of the countries, if not the most important country in the world, 100 years ago.” The president often repeats this statement, which experts argue has no historical basis. “The law implies the change that the president promised during the campaign and is delivering on. That’s why people voted for him.. Today, the world really sees – and we saw this in our discussions with the Fund – that it is moving in the right direction,” Caputo added.
new pan
While he was announcing the good news, around the Congress, the intellectuals and artists of this country held a noisy caceroleo in the rain, rejecting these regulations that they had warned about and warned would be implemented. Eliminate or cut funding for institutions such as the National Theater Institute (INT) and the National Fund for the Arts (FNA), National Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts (INCAA), National Institute of Music (INAMU) and National Commission on Popular Libraries (Conabip). After taking office, Milei abolished the Ministry of Culture and reduced it to undersecretariat.
“Deputies and senators are passing legislation in favor of the people, rejecting the DNU and the Omnibus Bill proposed by the Executive Board. Thus, respond to the demand we make to you from all over the country, which is growing day by day in the streets.” a document was specified. The protest was repeated in other cities in the interior of the country.
Since taking office, Milei has faced three caceroleos and two mobilizations against his economic program; one of them, from the labor movement, called for a strike on January 24.