President Alberto Fernández revealed that he spoke to the head of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, on the telephone on Friday, and accused Juntos por el Cambio of blocking the debt restructuring negotiations. “There are sectors of the opposition hoping for the economic situation to get worse”, he stated on the radio.
“There are comments from there. We know who’s who and it’s very likely for these things to happen”, he said in tune with the statements of the Economy minister and presidential hopeful of Unión por la Patria, Sergio Massa, and added: “There is a sector worried about some people’s interests and not the good of the country”.
His words come while the delegation of the Ministry of the Economy and Fund experts continue their negotiations in Washington. For the President, Sergio Massa is “particularly involved in the negotiation” and the tension between the parties stems from the conditions claimed by the institution.
“The sooner these things get solved the better, given the uncertainty”, he explained and added that: “We don’t speculate with these things. We’re looking into a negotiation which doesn’t stunt Argentine growth”.
Moreover, he held that all negotiations with the credit institution “are difficult when you seek to preserve your own decisions”, and he stated: “I trust we’ll be able to move forward, find the necessary agreements and move on”.
As stated by the chief executive, he had an exchange of views with the head of the IMF in the morning, although he avoided giving any details about it. “We are working full steam ahead to close the deal. I’d rather let those who are working keep it up and not talk to the media”, he said.
Asked about the possibility of paying for the next debt maturity rescheduled for July 31st in yuans, as the country did on June 29th, he answered: “I don’t wish to anticípate anything. We’re working, we can make it”.
Over the last few hours, sources from the Fund informed that it continues to discuss with Argentine officials how to reserves and fiscal sustainability. “Our teams continue to work constructively, in person, with the goal of reaching an agreement over the fifth review of the Fund-backed Argentine programme”, said a spokesperson from the Fund.
He pointed out that “discussions remain focused on policies to strengthen reserves and improve fiscal sustainability. We will continue to communicate on the progress of these discussions”.
His role in the election campaign
Alberto Fernández also explained the role to be assumed towards the election campaign of Unión por la Patria, ahead of the PASO primaries on August 13th.
“I try to concentrate on management, I have to finish my administration well, it’s the best I can do in a campaign within a very difficult context. I’m working a lot with Sergio (Massa) and Agustín (Rossi) and I’m following what’s going on in the campaign because both candidates are my ministers”, he said.
On the other hand, he attacked Juntos por el Cambio hopefuls and Javier Milei, whom he accused of “wanting a privatised Argentina”. “The right wants to strip rights from the people and place Argentina once again in a parcel of the world at the service of a world power. We have to warn people about the risk we run”, he stated, and concluded that: “Those who want to come back are those who left us 150 billion dollars in debt and with 55% inflation. People need to be reminded of that. It’s the same people coming back, those who say that the scourge are the unions”, he concluded.
by Sofía Rojas, Noticias Argentinas
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