Milei appoints Caputo, a finance expert, as Minister of Economy

The elected president of Argentinathe ultraliberal Javier Milei, confirmed this Wednesday to Luis Caputoformer Minister of Finance during the government of Mauricio Macri, as his Minister of Economy, upon returning from a joint trip to the United States with high-level meetings at the White House.

“Yes, yes, the Minister of Economy is Luis Caputo”Milei declared to radio La Red, after landing in the Argentine capital.

“We already had it defined. When one looks at the nature of Argentine problems, when one notices that of the 15 points of fiscal deficit, Argentina generates 10 in the Central Bank, it is clear that the first problem to solve is the Leliq. It is essential to solve this problem with a lot of ‘expertise’ because if we make a mistake we end up in hyperinflation.”he added.

The Leliq, short-term debt securities of the Central Bank, are an obsession of Mileisince compliance with these obligations causes a large monetary issue for a country without access to credit, which, to a large extent, pushes inflation, which reaches 143% annually and will be one of the main challenges when he takes office on December 10. December.

Caputo58 years old, former Minister of Finance and former president of the Central Bank during the Macri government (2015-2019), accompanied Milei on his trip to New York and Washington.

“It has been a very positive trip, yesterday’s meeting (at the White House) has been extraordinary, very important due to the prominent role played by Jack Sullivan, who is Joe Biden’s most influential advisor“, he declared about his meeting with the National Security Advisor of the American president.

The debt with the IMF

Caputo He participated, along with the future chief of staff, Nicolás Posse, in a technical meeting with the International Monetary Fund, an organization with which Argentina has a credit agreement for US$ 44,000 million since 2018.

“The Minister of Economy, Luis Caputo, was able to discuss these issues in depth. There was an excellent reception and they perfectly understand the challenge of what we are facing. That was very good“, said Milei.

The president-elect had already given strong support to Caputo before inviting him on his trip to the United States.

“I need someone who has an expert financial doll and there is no greater financial expert in Argentina than Luis Caputo“, had said.

Caputo He was Macri’s Secretary of Finance between 2015 and 2017 and then minister of that area until 2018, when he served for a brief period as president of the Central Bank.

In the area of ​​Finance, he was the driving force behind the unprecedented issuance of a 100-year bond, celebrated as an achievement by the Macri government.

Nicknamed ‘Toto’, the future minister is the first cousin of Nicolas Caputoa close friend of Macri, main political ally of the ultraliberal Milei.

In his private career he worked in the finance area of ​​the JPMorgan investment bank in New York.