PanaTimes

Wednesday, Mar 22, 2023

Argentina’s new economic minister promises to stop printing money

Argentina’s new economic minister promises to stop printing money

Printing money fuels inflation which is now over 60 percent in Argentina and expected to reach 90 percent by year end.

Argentina’s new Economy Minister Sergio Massa pledged Wednesday night to stop printing money that helps fuel runaway inflation, outlining his strategy to turn around the country’s deepening crisis.

Massa rolled out his economic roadmap after being sworn in by President Alberto Fernandez as the third such minister in a month. Massa’s measures also focused on boosting exports, reducing the country’s fiscal deficit and increasing the central bank’s dwindling reserves.

Massa inherits the enormous challenge of taming inflation that’s now over 60% and expected to reach 90% by the end of this year. Cut off from international capital markets, Fernandez’s government has relied on money printing to cover its chronic fiscal deficit.

Sergio Massa (pictured) is Argentina’s third economy minister in a month


“Magic doesn’t exist,” Massa bluntly told reporters in Buenos Aires. “We have to confront inflation with determination.”

The government will finance its budget by reducing its deficit or via private lending. The country is considering four loan offers by three international banks and a sovereign wealth fund, he said, without providing a figure of the potential deal.

Separately, Massa is launching a voluntary local debt swap in pesos for bonds that mature in the next 90 days. He said that there’s already 60% “adhesion” to the swap, without providing more details at the press conference.

The government began discussions with some banks to offer a so-called dual bond to swap securities with maturities under 90 days, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter. Finance Secretary Eduardo Setti offered the dual bond, an instrument in which investors receive the highest rate out of two options at the time of the asset’s maturity. In this case, either an inflation-linked rate or a dollar-linked rate.

A Massa spokesperson didn’t respond to request for comment on the dual bond.


‘Technical Aspects’


Although light on specifics, Massa committed to meeting the government’s primary deficit target this year, a key pillar of its $44 billion program with the International Monetary Fund. Massa said he spoke to IMF staff Wednesday to discuss the program’s future. An IMF spokesperson said in a statement that its staff spoke to Massa about implementing the program.

Investors said Massa needs to deliver more fine print details to assuage market concerns.

“Massa’s speech had a strong political component and some aspirational components but was weak on the technical aspects that the market was demanding,” said Jorge Piedrahita, managing partner at Gear Capital Partners in New York.

It remained unclear how Massa would reduce the deficit while also providing one-time payments to retirees next week as well as “income recovery,” for low-wage private sector workers. He mentioned a “reordering” of social welfare plans focused on getting recipients to return to the job market, including suspending welfare plans for those who don’t participate in a hearing Aug. 15.

“Despite the commitment not to tap additional central bank funding, the measures do little to underpin fiscal credibility, so a fiscal anchor remains absent,” said Ramiro Blazquez, head of strategy at BancTrust & Co. in Buenos Aires. “Bottom-line, implementation details remain scarce.”

Other measures Massa announced:

* New exporting “regimens” for sectors including agriculture, mining, tech and fossil fuel production

* New loan program with loan interest rates for first-time exporters

* Taking legal action against exporters in Argentina and the US for either under-invoicing exports or over-invoicing imports

* Maintaining a previously announced public sector hiring freeze

* Program to create 70,000 computer programmers in 12 months

* Meeting with key leaders of the farm sector known in Spanish as the “Mesa de Enlace”

* Requesting congress pass legislation intended to provide tax relief to various industrial sectors

Newsletter

Related Articles

PanaTimes
Close
0:00
0:00
Credit Suisse's Scandalous History Resulted in an Obvious Collapse - It's time for regulators who fail to do their job to be held accountable and serve as an example by being behind bars.
Paris Rioting vs Macron anti democratic law
'Sexual Fantasy' Assignment At US School Outrages Parents
The US government has charged Chinese businessman Guo Wengui with leading a $1 billion fraud scheme that cheated thousands of followers out of their money.
Credit Suisse to borrow $54 billion from Swiss central bank
Russian Hackers Preparing New Cyber Assault Against Ukraine
"Will Fly Wherever International Law Allows": US Warns Russia After Drone Incident
If this was in Tehran, Moscow or Hong Kong
TRUMP: "Standing before you today, I am the only candidate who can make this promise: I will prevent World War III."
Drew Barrymore
China is calling out the US, UK, and Australia on their submarine pact, claiming they are going further down a dangerous road
A brief banking situation report
Lady bites police officer and gets instantly reaction
We are witnessing widespread bank fails and the president just gave a 5 min speech then walked off camera.
Donald Trump's asked by Tucker Carlson question on if the U.S. should support regime change in Russia?.
Silicon Valley Bank exec was Lehman Brothers CFO
Elon Musk Is Planning To Build A Town In Texas For His Employees
The Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse effect is spreading around the world, affecting startup companies across the globe
City officials in Berlin announced on Thursday that all swimmers at public pools will soon be allowed to swim topless
Fitness scam
Market Chaos as USDC Loses Peg to USD after $3.3 Billion Reserves Held by Silicon Valley Bank Closed.
Senator Tom Cotton: If the Mexican Government Won’t Stop Cartels from Killing Americans, Then U.S. Government Should
Banking regulators close SVB, the largest bank failure since the financial crisis
Silicon Valley Bank: Struggles Threaten Tech Startup Ecosystem"
Man’s penis amputated by mistake after he’s wrongly diagnosed with a tumour
In a major snub to Downing Street's Silicon Valley dreams, UK chip giant Arm has dealt a serious blow to the government's economic strategy by opting for a US listing
It's the question on everyone's lips: could a four-day workweek be the future of employment?
Is Gold the Ultimate Safe Haven Asset in Times of Uncertainty?
Spain officials quit over trains that were too wide for tunnels...
Corruption and Influence Buying Uncovered in International Mainstream Media: Investigation Reveals Growing Disinformation Mercenaries
Givenchy Store in New York Robbed of $50,000 in Merchandise
European MP Clare Daly condemns US attack on Nord Stream
Former U.S. President Carter will spend his remaining time at home and receive hospice care instead of medication
Tucker Carlson called Trump a 'demonic force'
Kamala Harris: "The United States has formally determined that Russia has committed crimes against humanity."
US Joins 15 NATO Nations in Largest Space Data Collection Initiative in History
White House: No ETs over the United States
U.S. Jet Shoots Down Flying Object Over Canada
Nord Stream terror attack: David Sacks breaks down Sy Hersh's story
Being a Tiktoker might be expensive…
Miracle: El Salvador Search and Rescue teams, with the support of Turkish teams, rescued a woman and a child from the rubble 150 hours after the earthquake
SpaceX, the private space exploration company, made a significant breakthrough in their mission to reach space.
China's top tech firms, including Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu, NetEase, and JD.com, are developing their own versions of Open AI's AI-powered chatbot, ChatGPT
This shocking picture, showing how terrible is the results of the earthquake in Turkey
President Joe Biden delivered the 2023 State of the Union Address , in order to help Americans that missed the 2022 speech, do not have internet, and suffer from short memory.
The desk of King Carlos Alberto of Sardinia has many secret compartments
Today's news from Britain - 9th February 2023
China has declined the US's request for Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to speak with Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe after the US Air Force shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon, according to the Pentagon
The five largest oil companies in the West generated combined profits of nearly $200 billion in 2022, which has led to increased calls for governments to impose tougher windfall taxes
2 earthquakes in Turkey killed over 2,300 people
×