Hernán Lacunza explained why the IMF had suspended the visit he had scheduled for this week

In his first television report since taking office
Minister of Finances,
Hernán Lacunza count on
TN why the International Monetary Fund (
MFIs) suspended
visit I had planned for this week. He said that the agreement with the agency is still in force and that it is being realized. In addition, he said that the dollar is high and that this allows Argentina to be competitive compared to the rest of the world.

As for the meeting that the government would hold Monday with the authorities of the Fund and that it was suspended, he said: "I asked them to give us a few days to finish sitting in the ministry, so in the coming days we will meet "He also said:" We respect the agreement, the second quarter's fiscal targets have been met, those of the third quarter will certainly be exaggerated. "I presented yesterday the projections of the second quarter. order of 20 billion pesos overdue, as well as the end In addition, the monetary guidelines are being implemented, and the entire agreement is in force and within the limits of commitments made. continue in this way and continue to deploy the monetary and financial budget program that we have ".

During the interview, the minister raised the possibility of a meeting of the Fund with the candidate Alberto Fernández. He explained that the IMF usually talks with the private sector and the opposition during their regular visits to the country. there, "the basic consensus on certain principles, such as stability, is important for the international organization".

He later recalled the value of the dollar and the sentence that Fernandez had pronounced a few days ago, when he stated that "
the $ 60 dollar is at a reasonable value. "Lacunza, for his part, said:" In reality, the dollar is high, so, there are public statements … the truth is that the markets when they make their buying decisions and Dirty takes into account the present, what the government is doing at the helm and the future, with the statements of all the candidates. We must therefore be careful not to generate unnecessary and free tensions. "

And he repeated: "The dollar has reached its highest value in the last 12 years, it's definitely a price above the long-term equilibrium, it's a dollar that allows us to to be competitive with the rest of the world and that allows us to stabilize trade and financial relations with the rest of the world, so that there is no fundamental reason for upward pressure on the dollar, I think that there is a general consensus in the profession on this diagnosis as well as in other political forces. "

As to whether the central bank had the necessary reserves to support this type of change, she responded in the affirmative and that with the president of the central bank, Guido Sandleris, they share the same diagnosis on the value of money.

L & # 39; call

Lacunza said that he was inside the country when he received a call from the governor, María Eugenia Vidal, at noon to propose to him to become the finance minister of the Nation. "He told me that he had met the President and Horacio Rodríguez Larreta and that [Nicolás] Dujovne had resigned and they had thought of my name to replace him. "

His response did not raise doubts: "I immediately told him that I was available, it seems to me that when a democratic president summons a citizen for public service, there is no room for personal speculation. he invited me to be part of his cabinet, to join the Ministry of Finance.I came by plane and at night, I started to work. "

According to the minister, Macri's request was clear and concise: take care of the Argentines. "It consists of putting calm and certainty first on the exchange rate and, once we have stabilized this front, we can move on to other objectives. Ministry of Finance can provide election period is this stability, this is what the President asked me to open the dialogue as an instrument to ensure this stability with the opposition forces. "

IN ADDITION