Buenos Aires Province Governor Axel Kicillof has called on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to investigate its managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, for allegedly violating the institution’s code of conduct.
Kicillof, a key Peronist leader, argued that comments by Georgieva could be seen as a comment on Argentina’s upcoming midterm elections in October.
“I have just sent a letter to the IMF Executive Board demanding an investigation into Kristalina Georgieva’s conduct,” Kicillof announced on social media.
He argued that Georgieva’s recent public remarks – in which she said it was important that “Argentina stays the course” to ensure the nation builds credibility – breached the IMF’s regulations and her duty of impartiality.
At an event in Washington DC this week, Georgieva referenced Argentina’s new US$20-billion programme with the IMF and said the nation needed to be consistent in order to gain credibility.
“Domestically, the country is going to go to elections, as you know, in October, and it’s very important that they don’t derail the will for change,” said Georgieva, who has expressed support for President Javier Milei’s austerity measures.
“So far, we don’t see that. We don’t see that risk materialising. But I would urge Argentina: stay the course.”
Her comments triggered outrage among Argentina’s opposition, sectors of which accused the Bulgarian economist of meddling in internal affairs.
Kicillof further noted that Georgieva had posed for an official photo wearing a chainsaw pin badge, a symbol associated with Milei’s La Libertad Avanza party.
The Peronist leader claimed that such an “unprecedented” act “undermines Argentina’s sovereignty and compromises the neutrality expected of any international body.”
He added: “Imagine the reaction if the head of the IMF were photographed wearing a pin of the Partido Justicialista or MORENA,” referring to Mexico’s ruling party.
The governor demanded an immediate retraction and a full internal investigation into whether Georgieva should be removed from her post.
His statement came shortly after veteran Peronist leader Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, two-term President and current head of the Partido Justicialista, slammed Georgieva on social media. Posting on the X social network, Fernández de Kirchner reminded followers that the country was in mourning over the death of Pope Francis and said she would not let the IMF chief’s “insolence” pass without a response.
Meanwhile, national deputy Esteban Paulón, from the Partido Socialista, said he had also filed a complaint, co-signed by deputy Mónica Fein, before the IMF Ethics Committee.
Paulón argued that Georgieva’s comments amounted to “inadmissible” political interference and called for sanctions.
In an interview with the Radio Splendid local station, he said that no IMF official should “assume a partisan stance” and suggested that her actions were a serious breach of the Fund’s ethical code.
Paulón further expressed concern over the IMF’s US$2- billion agreement with Argentina, arguing that clauses in the deal could restrict Congress’s ability to legislate freely – a move he claimed was incompatible with Argentina’s sovereignty.
– TIMES/NA/PERFIL
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