Seeking Blessings To Agree With The IMF | G …

The renegotiation of the program with the International Monetary Fund and the debt with the Paris Club, as well as the economic situation of Argentina in general and its projections (apparently more favorable than one supposed) were the stakes that the minister of Economy, Martín Guzmán, met in the Vatican with Pope Francis and in Rome with Italian Minister of Economy, Daniele Franco, and a group of eleven businessmen representing well-known Italian companies based in Argentina.

Embassy sources said the goal of these meetings is to build consensus and better understanding so that there is more clarity and support in the negotiations the country needs to resume with the IMF. And progress is being made in building this consensus at the international level, they stressed. This is indeed the objective of Minister Guzmán’s European trip, which began on Sunday in Germany and will continue Thursday in Madrid and Friday in Paris, meeting the ministers of economy and finance and other economic representatives of the various country.

The IMF, in an agreement signed by the Macri government in 2018, granted Argentina a credit of $ 57 billion, of which $ 44 billion went to Argentina. In 2021, the country will have to face three important deadlines: in May with the Paris Club for 2 930 million, and in September and December with the IMF for respectively 2,205 and 2,035 million.

The meeting with Italian Minister Franco, according to sources at the Embassy in Rome, was “very constructive”. In addition to Argentine issues, the G20 has appeared, currently chaired by Italy, and which will hold its next international meeting in October in Rome. The G20 has a planned agenda “with very deep content,” Argentinian sources said.

Regarding the meeting with Pope Francis, it appeared that they not only addressed the issue of debt renegotiation with the IMF and the Paris Club, but also discussed “how to deal with the problems of the ‘international financial and economic architecture’ in this period of a pandemic that has affected the economy, life and health of the population. As pontiff, Francis has always raised the need to change certain rules of the world economy to help the less privileged countries and the countries in debt.

The meeting, which had the characteristics of a private audience and for which the Vatican made no official statement, lasted about 50 minutes and was held in the morning at the Private Library of the Pontiff, in the Apostolic Palace of the Vatican, where the Pope usually does their official audiences with leaders or ambassadors from around the world. In the photo of the meeting, released by the Argentine Embassy, ​​they are seen smiling and talking amicably.

Pope Francisco and Guzmán have known each other for a long time. He and his teacher and friend, Nobel laureate in economics Joseph Stigliz, participated in February last year in an important conference at the Vatican promoted by Francis, on “New forms of solidarity, inclusion and development. ‘integration’ and to which the director of the IMF, Kristalina Georgieva and finance ministers of various countries. On this occasion, the Pope said to the participants: “To you, who are the financial leaders and the economic experts of the world”, who know very well “what are the injustices of our current economy” I ask you “to work together for put an end to these global injustices ”.

After meeting the Pope, Guzmán visited the Sistine Chapel, closed to the public by the pandemic like all the Vatican Museums, and met the Argentinian Bishop Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo, Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and of the Pontifical Academy. of Social Sciences, and one of the organizers of the international conference on “New forms of solidarity” last year. Professor and economist Stefano Zamagni, president of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences was also present.

The meeting with businessmen, held at the Argentine Embassy and organized by Ambassador Roberto Carlés, was attended, among others, by representatives of important companies based in Argentina such as Pirelli Neumáticos, the construction company Ghella, ENEL and Edesur, ENI, Telespazio Argentina, Leonardo and Ferrovie dello Stato. During this meeting, Guzmán described the economic situation of Argentina in the context of the pandemic and highlighted the public policies aimed at supporting the most vulnerable sectors and the capital of companies. “These policies have allowed the GDP to fall less than what the international projections say, and the recovery is going faster,” Guzmán said.

An official statement also said that the minister also told the businessmen that “Argentina seeks macroprudential regulation based on a system that encourages real investments and discourages short-term speculative behavior which has done so much harm to Argentina since 2018 “. In this sense, Guzmán clarified that “this objective takes time, and for that we must strengthen the exports and the reserves of our country, but important measures are taken in this direction, like the decree on the large investments which implies flexibilities “. the statement said.