Martín Guzmán: 'Argentina needs more time to negotiate with the IMF'

08/02/2021 8:27 AM

• Clarín.com

• Economy

Updated 08/02/2021 8:27 AM

The Minister of Economy, Martín Guzmán affirmed, on Sunday night, that

"Argentina does not have the capacity to pay to face the debt with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), for that reason it needs more time to negotiate"

, time that assured that "all possibilities are open, and if the agreement is good and fast, the better."

Guzmán, in dialogue with C5N, pointed out that

"the priority is to obtain a good agreement and we must be able to avoid any disruptive situation

while we negotiate with the IMF."

The head of the Palacio de Hacienda indicated that

"with the IMF we face a huge debt burden

because the borrowed funds were not used to increase the country's productive capacity and were used to finance capital outflows during the previous government."

Regarding the negotiation deadlines, the minister pointed out that "

all possibilities are open and if the agreement is good and fast, the better.

Argentina does not have the ability to pay to face the debt with the IMF that is why it needs more. weather".

The head of the economic portfolio remarked that "we are a sovereign country and we lead the economy and that is the framework of the negotiation with

the IMF. Those US $ 45,000 million from the IMF will begin to be paid on September 22, 2021

and it is necessary to explain it to them. to the people so that Argentina never again gets into these situations. "

Guzmán pointed out that "to release the exchange restrictions, we are aiming for a horizon in which the capital account regulations will be different, but

it takes time because the BCRA must increase its reserves

to release the regulations."

Regarding the parallel dollar.

Guzmán minimized its

"low incidence due to its small size"

and stated that "we have the instruments to maintain the exchange gap with the official dollar and although there is some noise in the pre-electoral stage,

we have instruments to neutralize these price fluctuations" .

Guzmán warned that the decision with the taking of debt is necessary

"to explain it to the people so that Argentina never again reaches these conditions."

The head of the Palacio de Hacienda pointed out that

"we are going to comply with the Budget law that projected an official exchange rate of $ 102.40

. At the same time, we have been accumulating reserves and we are going to continue with the same exchange policy and it will not to have currency disruptions after the elections. "

Guzmán defended the segmentation of subsidies because there are subsidies that have to do with gas that have huge amounts of subsidies.

The increases in service rates are not going to be linear as they were in the previous government.

"

We are working on progressive criteria in relation to people's earning capacity," he

said.

The minister stressed that "we need to add greater value to our production, to achieve more social inclusion. We are working to create the conditions to give people a horizon of hope where job opportunities abound. In the pandemic we protect the most vulnerable sectors ".

Guzmán emphasized that "there is great potential for growth in the services sector that is currently affected by the pandemic.

The economy is recovering but not all sectors are reacting in the same way.

This is a central issue that is being addressed with the G-20 ministers and that in the next meeting in October it will include the ministers of health. "

In relation to the rise in prices, the minister reaffirmed that "inflation is multi-causal and not just a monetary phenomenon."

"The big problem is the lack of dollars

. The monetary part does exist, but it is not the only one. Let's not forget that the increase in commodities generated more food inflation throughout the world and that hit hard on the Argentine economy. But keep in mind that month-on-month inflation is on a downward path ".

Guzmán added that

"as of March, inflation is falling

. Reducing inflation will require the time necessary to overcome structural problems that affect the normal development of the economy."

YN

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