The president of Argentina, Alberto Fernández, appointed this Thursday Sergio Massa, a fundamental piece of the ruling front, as a new “super minister” who will try to put the country’s complex economy on track South American, hit by strong imbalances that threaten growth and hit the pockets of Argentines.
After the strong wave of rumors unleashed this Wednesday about imminent changes in the Government Cabinet, finally Fernández decided to reorganize the economic areas of the Executive “for a better operation, coordination and management”according to official sources.
Thus, the Ministries of Economy, Productive Development and Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries will be unified in a new portfolio, which will be commanded by Sergio Massa, current head of the Chamber of Deputies.
Massa will take over as minister once “his removal from his bench is formally resolved” as a deputy, the government reported in a statement.
Silvina Batakis, Economy Minister since July 4, will become head of the state-owned Banco Nación, while Daniel Scioli, who has headed the Development Ministry since mid-June, will return as Argentine ambassador to Brazil.
On the other hand, Fernández accepted the resignation of Julián Domínguez as Minister of Agriculture and that of Gustavo Béliz as Secretary of Strategic Affairs of the Presidency, a position that will be held by Mercedes Marcó del Pont, until now head of the Argentine Treasury.
string of changes
The change in the Cabinet is the third that has taken place in less than two months, in a scenario of strong divisions in the ruling Frente de Todos, between the Kirchnerist wing that responds to the Argentine vice president, Cristina Fernández, and the more moderate Peronism aligned with Albert Fernandez.
In June Matías Kulfas had left the Ministry of Productive Development and in early July Martín Guzmán had resigned as Minister of Economy, two men close to the president and openly questioned by the vice president.
Massa, leader of the Renovador Front, the third force with the greatest weight within the Frente de Todos, was Chief of Staff of the Government of Cristina Fernández (2007-2015) and then he went on to lead the opposition Peronism to the then president.
Currently, he maintains a good relationship with both the head of state and the vice president, with whom he has had contact in recent hours.
The governors of Argentine provinces that make up Peronism have also promoted the arrival of Massa in the Cabinet to try to calm internal political tensions and provoke a change in the expectations of the markets and the business community, something that Batakis did not achieve in his three weeks of management.
big challenges
Massa, 50 years old and a lawyer by profession, takes the reins of an economy that managed to recover 10.4% last year after three years of severe recession, but that this year has lost vigor, in the midst of a complex global scenario and with high inflation that the country has been dragging for years but that has accelerated in recent months -64% year-on-year in June-.
Argentina also suffers from fiscal and monetary imbalances that the refinancing agreement signed last March with the International Monetary Fund seeks to correct with goals of reducing the primary deficit, cutting monetary assistance to the Treasury and accumulating monetary reserves that pose a major challenge and that Many experts consider it difficult to comply with.
In this scenario, the Central Bank has further restricted access to foreign currency -including new measures this Thursday-, which has caused concern among businessmen and renewed tensions in the foreign exchange markets in recent weeks.
In addition to dispelling the uncertainty that prevails among investors, Massa will also have the challenge of trying to rebuild the damaged relationship with the agricultural sector -the one with the greatest weight in the Argentine economy- and to meet the growing social demands, in a scenario of high poverty. (YO)
Source: Eluniverso
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