The Wall Street Journal, tough on the IMF and Argentina: “He does not reform”

The American newspaper The Wall Street Journal published a column in which it assures that the money that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) sent to Argentina under the special drawing rights will allow the government “Pass the mid-term elections in November without crisis and without making the reforms necessary to regain growth”.

The text, signed by columnist Maria Anastasia O’Grady, questions the IMF under the title “Dollars for the fiasco in Latin America”.

The article emphasizes that economic resources are given to countries “Dictators”, “unpleasant people” and “socialist governments”, and illustrated by Nicaragua, El Salvador and Argentina.

“These are some of the bad actors in the Western Hemisphere who have been given Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) as part of a new global allocation of $ 650 billion,” the columnist wrote. And I add: “They don’t follow the rules of the international communityBut suddenly hundreds of millions of dollars at rock bottom rates fall into their coffers. “

The IMF provides approximately 650,000 million US dollars, distributed among the 190 members, which represents a multilateral asset which supplements the official reserves of the nations.

On this figure, Argentina some 4.335 million US dollars entered last week, which is the 0.67% quota he has in his body.

“Each of the 190 members,” says O’Grady, “received a new allocation of SDRs, based on their quota in the Fund, regardless of the nation’s commitment to minority rights, institutions or communities. Right wing state “.

“The oppressors will be a godsend, no questions asked”, concludes the author.

After specifying that this aid will allow the Government to pass the legislative elections “without crisis” and without having carried out any reform towards a sustained growth of the economy, he adds that “the case of the SDR as a means of helping the poor is weak. in Argentina”.

“The country owes the IMF some 46 billion dollars with little prospect of repayment; the two sides have been negotiating for months what would effectively be debt rescheduling, but they have not moved forward. “

“The problem is the socialist government’s economic model of populist spending, high taxes, capital controls and inflation that exceeds 50% per year,” he warned.

In addition, he stressed that “Argentina can no longer access capital markets and investment has collapsed”.

Already among the conclusions, O’Grady assumes that the aid will be intended for the payment of principal and interest, “to follow the Fund”.

“This is where the contribution to the poor is directed,” he said.

Finally, the author of the article declared that “without an agreement and without access to the capital markets for next year, Argentina’s only option will be to default, since it will have to pay the IMF 19,000 million dollars in both 2022 and 2023 ″.

“There was a time when large multilateral donations were conditional on attempts at good governance. Those days have passed, ”the article concluded.

LM