The president of Banco Nación (BNA), Silvina Batakis, affirmed this Monday that the inflationary situation “is very complex” and “it is not something that can be resolved in five minutes”, while anticipating that In the coming days, new subsidized credit lines will be announced “for companies that have strategic projects.”
“The inflationary issue is not something that can be resolved in five minutes,” Batakis stressed. to radio AM750, and pointed out that it is “important to say it because there was a candidate for president here and who later assumed the Presidency who said nonsense that it will be over in five minutes,” referring to Mauricio Macri.
Instead, He remarked that “the reality is that Argentine inflation is very complex and ends up affecting all Argentines.”
In turn, he reaffirmed that the same it is “multi-causal”, and he stated that “the important thing, in this sense, is to establish what these multiple causes are and try to solve them one by one and simultaneously”.
“I find it very misleading to say that we are going to reduce inflation to one digit in a year. That, the truth, is not going to happen. But we do have to work so that in several years it will be within normal limits,” added the official.
Asked about the success of a “stabilization” or “shock” planBatakis believed that, if applied, “of course it would work”, but he estimated that “a lot of political muscle and a lot of political vocation” is necessary.
In this framework, he maintained that “when one can walk well on the path of politics, the economy goes better”, and considered that “the figure of (Economy Minister) Sergio Massa, came to bring a bit of that, that the political issue is directing the economic one”.
Referring to his management as head of the Palacio de Hacienda, he considered that it was “very intense”, and maintained that “it served to have the first bridges to an order that I think was necessary”.
Regarding the financing of SMEs, Batakis recognized that “in this situation where we already have an annual inflation of 88%, the truth is that it is very difficult to establish lines of credit that are super attractive and above all because the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is demanding a track of positive real rates”.
However, he anticipated that the BNA and the Ministry of Industry are working on “new instruments that Minister Massa will surely announce these days so that companies that have strategic projects and that the national State considers to be necessary for the country, have subsidized lines of credit.”
In the same way, He asserted that the BNA is carrying out “a system to make it much easier to access” the existing lines.
“We have not been able to fulfill the social contract that we offered and promised in the electoral campaign in 2019. That is important because I think that this recognition also implies that we are fully aware that there are indeed things that are missing,” remarked the president of the BNA in a self-critical tone.
He pointed out that “the situation in which the Government took over was one of maximum debt, in hard currency”, and pointed out that “since it is contracted with the IMF, it limits public policies and gives less margin in them”.
