One month, three ministers. Sergio Massa, until then President of the Chamber of Deputies, officially took the reins of the Ministry of the Economy, Wednesday August 3, before announcing his first measures. His appointment is supposed to end a period of great political instability, a symptom of the crisis that inhabits the center-left coalition, in power since December 2019.
This member of the presidential party, Frente de Todos (All People’s Front), succeeds Silvina Batakis, appointed on 3 July. The latter was to express the coalition’s most left-wing thinking, embodied by Vice-President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. Twenty-five days later, she announced that she was leaving the post, as the peso continued to slide on the parallel currency market. The economist herself took over from Martin Guzman, disciple of the Nobel Prize in economics Joseph Stiglitz, architect of the restructuring of Argentina’s unsustainable debt with private creditors and, above all, the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This last component concerns 45 billion dollars (more than 44 billion euros) and involves a series of commitments, particularly in terms of budgetary discipline. Mr. Guzman tendered his resignation on July 2.
Symbolically, the new economy minister began presenting his measures on August 3 with a firm promise to respect the 2.5% budget deficit target established with the IMF. “We will make all the necessary corrections to keep our word”, assured Sergio Massa. At the head of an expanded portfolio, encompassing the very strategic morocco productive development as well as agriculture and livestock, which gives him more power, Mr. Massa was quickly described as « superministre » by the Argentinian media. The sign, too, of the continued collapse of the president, Alberto Fernandez. “I’m not a super anything, neither a magician nor a savior,” however, said Sergio Massa, a 50-year-old lawyer with a long political career.
“Rearrangement” of social aid
“He is a pragmatist who can be defined as being at the center of the political spectrum. He enjoys connections both with the local establishment and internationally, particularly in the United States.notes Diego Martinez Burzaco, director of research at the investment company Inviu. “His first announcements go in the right direction, even if they are more intentions than concrete measures”continues the economist.
You have 57.34% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.