Alberto Fernández warns in Davos that there is no place for more irresponsible adjustments

Video capture of the speech by the president of Argentina, Alberto Fernández, at the World Economic Forum this Thursday.HANDOUT / AFP

The president of Argentina, Alberto Fernández, has sent a warning message to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), with whom he is negotiating a refinancing of the debt of 44,000 million dollars, assuring that "there is no more room for irresponsible adjustments."

The cuts, in addition to being impossible to comply with, "damage the credibility of both those who have to comply and those who provide unrealistic assistance," he said.

Argentina closed a debt renegotiation last year with 99% of private creditors.

Fernández has opened with this warning before the World Economic Forum (WEF, in its acronym in English), which in this edition celebrates its annual meeting virtually.

"In the midst of the pandemic we had to deal with another no less destructive virus, toxic and irresponsible debt," he said, for which he blamed the IMF itself in part.

The Argentine president has assured, however, that the relationship with the current management of the Fund, headed by Kristalina Georgieva, is good and fluid, and that the new agreement between both parties will incorporate new macroeconomic perspectives and a common understanding for the specific needs of the Argentine economy.

"The dialogue with the IMF is underway and has been, so far, very constructive," he added.

The president has also advanced that the program to be agreed with the Fund "will be sent to Congress to involve the entire political class in a development path that has debt sustainability, social inclusion and transparency as State policies" .

Fernández has tried to convey to investors a positive image of Argentina, despite the fact that this week the IMF recalculated the growth expected for 2021 downwards, and has assured that the recovery "is being faster" than he thought it would be .

As an example, the president spoke about job creation: "We have already registered 4,500 jobs that did not exist before the pandemic and we have been recovering industrial employment for five months in a row," he detailed.

He has also defended his Administration's commitment to a sustainable recovery in line with the Paris Agreements.

So much so that "the development of the future will be green or it will not be," he declared.

For the Argentine leader, the pandemic has put all the paradigms to the test and now it is not a question of choosing between the economy or life to face the pandemic, but "life with more and better economy."

He has also cited Pope Francis and the economist Luigino Bruni and his book

to defend an ethical economy.

“The moral imperative is to prioritize the last, the discarded, the most vulnerable.

Fraternity must be the new name for development and solidarity of social peace ”.

Faced with criticism about the vaccination schedule and distribution in the country of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine, Fernández assured that "the vaccine should be considered a global public good."