Alberto Fernández and Sergio Massa seek a relaxation of the IMF’s goals. Economy column of El Círculo Rojo, a program of La Izquierda Diario on Radio Con Vos, 89.9. In text and video.
- President Alberto Fernández visited the United States this week. On Monday he arrived in New York and on Wednesday 3/29 he was in Washington, where he met with his American counterpart, Joe Biden.
- Let us remember that the meeting takes place after the postponement of a meeting agreed for July of last year and that it was suspended because the president of the United States caught Covid.
- The Argentine president arrived in the midst of the urgency of an economy that is slowing down, with accelerating inflation, with a drought that affects the income of dollars and with the indomitable internal FDT.
- Fernández this Thursday began the return. But, on Wednesday he gave a conference after his meeting with Biden. And he left some definitions.
- “I am convinced that the doors have been opened for strategic work and in conjunction with the United States,” said the Argentine president.
- And he added that “It was a work meeting where I was able to tell about the difficulties we have, the needs we have for them to accompany us in credit agencies, such as the IMF, as they have done up to here.”
- Beyond occasional statements to empathize, such as “Biden expresses a clearly Keynesian view of the economy and in that Peronism and Biden are similar”, the central thing is that Alberto Fernández affirmed that the country is going through the worst drought since 1929 and He spoke of the need to “build a bridge” until next year.
- In addition to the one-on-one meeting with Biden in the Oval Office of the White House between the two presidents, there was another extended meeting in the Cabinet Room where delegations from both countries participated.
- On the Argentine side, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship, Santiago Cafiero and the Minister of Economy, Sergio Massa, participated, among others. On the US side, the presence of the Secretary of the Treasury, Janet Yellen, stood out.
- Why is the presence of Massa and Yellen important? Because Massa is in Washington negotiating with the IMF and Yellen manages the representative of the United States, which, let’s remember, is the Fund’s main shareholder country.
- The minister seeks to relax the goals of the agreement signed last year, in particular the reserve accumulation goal, while approving the review corresponding to the fourth quarter of 2022.
- The Fund will most likely grant that. But everything indicates that the fiscal deficit target for this year, established at 1.9% of GDP, will not be touched.
- Therefore, with an economy that is landing, for now, softly, but that could fall into recession, that is, an economy where tax revenues are in decline, if the fiscal deficit target is not reached, logically it will speed up the cut in public spending, the adjustment that is already underway.
- In other words, the Fund is the same as always, despite the fact that the government is delusional about something else. But, nothing is free in these negotiations. The United States exercises its imperialist role as always.
- This is evident in the “detail” that it is the officials of the Frente de Todos who are going to beg Washington for a little help.
- But more is evident in the fact that the United States, no matter how indulgent, take advantage of the urgency of the FDT to make a profit: in particular, in its interest in the strategic natural resources that our country has, especially mining resources. including lithium.
- For this reason, the declaration of Alberto Fernández was not naive when he affirmed from Washington that “We need private investors to be able to better exploit the resources.”
- Fernández returned, but Massa continues in the northern country the negotiations with the IMF. Yesterday, Wednesday, he met with the deputy manager of the IMF, Gita Gopinath. And this Friday he will meet with Kristalina Georgieva.
- Massa, in addition to the effects of the drought, wants to assert the cost of the war between Russia and Ukraine on our country, which the Economy estimates at around US$5 billion during 2022.
- The Fund has not yet taken this calculation into account. But they did refer to what they estimate the cost of the drought to be less, which the Rosario Stock Exchange estimated at US$20 billion.
- With this dance of numbers, the FDT harbors a hope: that the Fund will throw in a rope of fresh dollars to “save” the election year. Could be. It might not be.
- But the other rope, the one that subjects the Argentine economy to Washington’s mandates, if we do not break with the Fund, will continue as a rope around the neck that drowns the majority in misery, as reflected in the poverty numbers released by INDEC. .
Economy / National Economy / IMF / Sergio Massa / Washington / Joe Biden / Alberto Fernández / The Red Circle
Source: www.laizquierdadiario.com
