Statement: The government of Mauricio Macri and the IMF are responsible for the crisis
Amid a major financial and currency crisis, Argentina's new Finance Minister, Hernán Lacunza, announced a restructuring of the country's massive public debt due to the current government's inability to pay.
He announced four measures:
- Extend short-term maturities, both in pesos and dollars, Letes and Lecaps, for institutional investors, i.e., banks, insurance companies, and investment funds.
- Submit to Congress a bill to promote the extension of debt repayment terms under local jurisdiction, without reduction of interest or principal.
- Initiate talks with private banks to "bring proposals closer" to investors to restructure foreign debt maturities.
- To begin negotiations with the IMF to “reprofile” the deadlines agreed upon with that organization.
These measures hark back to President Fernando de la Rúa's 2001 debt swap and offer no relief to working people who are suffering the erosion of their purchasing power. There were no announcements regarding increases in pensions, wages, or social programs, nor was there any suspension of layoffs, nor was a declaration of a food emergency, as demanded by social organizations.
Nor were any measures taken to curb capital flight and market extortion. On the contrary, these announced measures open the door to lawsuits from vulture funds for non-compliance and deepen the IMF's interference with its demands for further austerity measures, such as labor, pension, and tax reforms, and more privatizations. These reforms are designed to ensure that Argentina remains "good business" for foreign and local capitalists by loosening labor conditions and lowering real wages; reducing the tax burden on businesses and deepening a regressive tax system; and raising the retirement age, reducing pensions, and reopening private pension systems.
The adjustment policies and the consequences of this crisis are being suffered by the workers who live in Argentina, but the government of Mauricio Macri and the International Monetary Fund are the real culprits of the crisis.
Buenos Aires, August 28, 2019
CLACSO Working Group
Crisis and the global economy
