Paula Lugones
06/16/2021 3:13 PM
Clarín.com
Economy
Updated 06/16/2021 9:35 PM
The Joe Biden government affirmed that if Argentina presents "
a solid framework of economic policy",
with growth in private sector employment, it could receive the support of the United States and the international community in negotiations with the International Monetary Fund and the Paris Club.
Economy Minister
Martín Guzmán
spoke on Zoom Tuesday afternoon with Deputy Secretary of the Treasury,
Wally Adeyemo
about the current negotiation of the Argentine doubt, for more than an hour.
The dialogue was confirmed this Wednesday by the Treasury department in a statement.
It was
the first high-level contact
between the Argentine minister and the US portfolio, led by Janet Yellen, since Joe Biden took office.
In his previous visits, Guzmán had only met with lower-ranking officials, despite intense Argentine efforts for Yellen to receive him.
In his talk with Adeyemo, the minister made a presentation of the main economic challenges of the country, raised a macro vision and then there was a conversation about the identification of the problems.
As it was a first contact, it did not delve into issues that the Government requests from the Fund, such as the elimination of the interest surcharge or the extension of payment terms, sources from Economía said.
In the statement, the Treasury noted that both officials reviewed Argentina's dialogue with the Paris Club and the Fund.
According to the text, Adeyemo
"indicated that a solid framework of economic policy for Argentina that provides a vision for the growth of employment in the private sector would obtain the support of the United States and the international community."
Economy sources told
Clarín
that they were "surprised" by the Treasury statement, since it was a first contact with the official and they did not expect an official communication.
And they read it as
"overwhelming support
, which gives a positive prognosis with both the Paris Club and the Fund."
In addition, they stressed that the statement emphasized growth and job creation as a characteristic of sustainability and that this is important because it reveals that they share "the same philosophical priority" as the Government.
From Economy they
avoided focusing on the US request
that Argentina present an economic plan, something that Washington and Wall Street constantly demand to clear up uncertainty.
The request
"does not seem to us to be conditioning,"
say government sources.
“We have projection of variables and objectives.
I do not see the statement in that warning key ”, they add.
A former debt negotiator does not understand it in that tone:
"The statement is not supportive, it
is diplomatic and is used to mark the field, so that Argentina does not say that it has the support of the United States and is triumphalist," he told Clarion.
The dialogue between Guzmán and the Treasury official arises when
the head of the Lower House, Sergio Massa, is visiting Washington
seeking to oil the bilateral relationship.
The United States is a key player in approving any new loan in the Fund, given its weight on the body's board.
The message that Massa gave before officials of the National Security Council, the State Department and legislators is that the loan that was given to Argentina in 2018 was "political" (due to a support from the government of Donald Trump to that of Mauricio Macri) and that the renegotiation should also be political and that is why the support of the United States is needed.
Sources from the Massa delegation told this correspondent that in the different meetings of the head of the chamber in Washington
, the United States' concern about the economic program arose,
rather focused “on the planning of export growth, which allows projecting the new deadlines. of the agreement ”. And that the Argentine insisted on the demand for the reduction of interest surcharges to bring positions closer to the Fund.
In a public presentation at the
Interamerican Dialogue,
a Washington analysis center that closely follows the Argentine issue, Massa stated that he sees an opportunity to “channel the relationship with the Fund in a logic that allows Argentina to achieve a growth program of economy, exports, that makes the commitment achievable ”.
In his presentation, as well as in his meetings with US officials, Massa had to listen to many questions about the government coalition and the influence of the vice president, to which he responded with praise for the
“harmonizing leadership”
of President Alberto Fernández.
The questions will continue in New York, where Massa will arrive this Thursday to give a talk at the Council of The Americas and meet with investors with interests in Argentina, who usually demand an economic plan that provides predictability to invest in the country.
Washington. Correspondent