Alberto Fernández calls an emergency meeting after massive resignation in the Ministry of Economy

First modification: 07/03/2022 – 04:22

The government spokesperson, Gabriela Cerruti, the secretary general of the Presidency, Julio Vitobello, and Sergio Massa, third founder of the Frente de Todos, among other authorities, are present at the meeting.

With the passing of the hours, practically all the officials of the Economic Cabinet have shown their solidarity with Guzmán and also presented their letters of resignation.

Among those who have handed over their positions are: Raúl Enrique Rigo of the Treasury, Roberto Arias of Tax Policy, Fernando Morra Secretary of Economic Policy, who have published the official notes and communications on their respective social networks.

The resignation of Martin Guzman

The Minister of Economy published his resignation from the position in an extensive text that he released through his Twitter account, in which he assured that despite his retirement he will continue “working and acting for a more just, free and sovereign Homeland” .

In the letter, the former minister thanks President Alberto Fernández for his trust and opportunity in office and listed some of the difficulties encountered.

“When our government took office, Argentina was mired in a deep economic, social and debt crisis, and to this was added first a global pandemic and then the current war in Ukraine, which have been profoundly disruptive of the functioning of the international economic system” .

He recalled that during this same year an agreement was reached with the International Monetary Fund to refinance the debt taken in 2018-2019, highlighting that the agreement had exceptional characteristics.

“Because of the new legislation that our own government had proposed, for the first time in history an agreement with the IMF had to be submitted to the National Congress for approval, which finally occurred with 80% of affirmative votes,” he stated. Guzman.

He stressed that beyond the “uncertainties” that generated divisions in Congress, the process constituted a historic step forward for the country.

In the text, he invited the president to promote a political agreement within the ruling coalition. “That will help whoever succeeds me to carry out the steps leading to economic and social progress with the political support that is necessary for them to be effective,” he pointed out.

unsustainable tensions

The resignation occurs in the midst of a growing economic crisis and discrepancies with Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who since the agreement with the IMF was signed, assured that the now former minister had condemned the country to a strong fiscal adjustment, deepening the economic crisis. and complicating the electoral possibilities of the ruling party for the general elections to be held next year.

Kirchner hoped that the government’s policies would be tougher on the IMF. She asked for a capital reduction and longer terms, while she denounced that the agency had tried to finance Macri’s re-election with a loan that the country could not repay.

The vice president alleged that the former minister, with his policy of fiscal austerity and reduction of internal consumption, had promoted the electoral defeat of the mid-term legislative elections, in which the absence of the traditionally Peronist vote was felt, which focuses on the most impoverished sectors of the country.

In recent weeks, the pressure has increased on Guzmán, in addition to the wear and tear due to the rise in inflation and other fronts of the economy. Last Thursday, the Minister of Development of the Province and spokesman for La Cámpora, Andrés Larroque, criticized the management of Martín Guzmán, assuring that there was not much to hope for “on that side”, also urging the Government to resolve inflation, discuss how finances the State and seek solutions so that the Central Bank accumulates reserves. “We must recover the stability and credibility of the sector of society that had expectations in this government,” said Larroque.

This same Saturday, Vice President Cristina Fernández, who was carrying out an act just at the moment in which Guzmán presented his resignation, expressed that “the fiscal deficit was not responsible for inflation” pointing against the former minister during the commemoration of the 48th anniversary of Guzmán’s death. Juan Domingo Peron.

the future of the country

Argentine economists analyze the various scenarios that lie ahead for the country in the midst of this resignation, assuring that the economic management of the coming months needs significant changes.

According to Pablo Besmedrisnik, member of Invenomica Consultora, the nation “is going through a period of strong financial stress where macroeconomic imbalances are coming to light” and stressed the importance that the person who is chosen to replace Guzmán has a broad capacity to generate agreements between the different social and political sectors.

For the chief economist of the Argentine Institute of Finance Executives (IAEF), Alfredo Gutiérrez, the resignation of the minister was a probability that had increased in recent weeks, in the midst of a situation of conflict within the government coalition that has repercussions on the economy “an economy that doesn’t have too many margins, doesn’t have too many cushions to support this type of tension”.

“If one looks at the situation of reserves and the situation of the financial system, what happened in the last 15 days was clear enough and the fact of having had to put the super stocks on imports, with the cost that this implied for the productive sector , is a clear example that we are in a situation that cannot last for a long time,” said the IAEF economist.

The Executive of Alberto Fernández is going through its lowest approval rating since he became president in 2019, in addition to a complicated economic context with few reserves in dollars, inflation that may close at 80% and a conflictive exchange market.