The Economy and Labor Forum called for “a comprehensive renegotiation of the debt with the IMF”
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Economist and former Secretary of Commerce, Roberto Feletti argued that “Argentina has shown to have an important and positive economy during the government of Alberto Fernandez“, although he explained why this growth did not impact salary, during the Forum on Economy and Workheld at the SADOP Auditorium.
“Argentina recovered from the fall of the 2020 pandemic, the macrismo disaster, and the war, in just two years. However, we are gathered here because the main problem is that the drop in unemployment in the last year, accompanied by growth that there was (5 points) should have had a more pronounced curve in a distribucioncita industrial model, while the participation of wages in gross product as well”, he pointed out.
Consequently, it held that this situation is due to the fact that The IMF program has two infeasibility (technical and political), which make it impossible to see this growth.
Technique because it is economically unfeasible, “anyone who tries to stabilize the economy of an emerging country (such as Argentina) via fiscal adjustment is unfeasiblethat is, you must have a fiscal/monetary order, but having accumulated reserves”, and politically because “it is intended to make a permanent inflationary adjustment with rates and periodic devaluation.”
Another point he mentions is that heThe restructuring of the debt with the private sector did not allow the country risk to be lowered“this debt scheme is, in our opinion, the one that is preventing this powerful growth that Argentina had from being converted into employment and wages.”
In turn, he specified that “we are at the gates of a structural change in Argentina since the high international prices in energy and mining are here to stay, and energy is going to change its role from being a restriction to become a vector of competitiveness”.
Then, the coordinator of the Research and Training Center of the Argentine Republic (Cifra-CTA) Paul Manzanellistressed that Argentina is experiencing an economic crossroads, and “not a crisis”, because in the period 2021-2022 there was economic growth and job creation.
“This crossroads has two fundamental points: the debt crisis that is reflected in a low reserve, and an income crisis that is reflected in a regressive income distribution and low wage distribution.”
These elements make this situation of economic growth “seem unsustainable over time” and at the same time weaken low incomes, he said.
Against the failed neoliberal forecasts, the Government has carried out a successful stabilization plan, without the variables getting out of hand and without the level of activity falling.
Now we must face the distribution of income, which is the raison d’être of Peronism. pic.twitter.com/cdSbaYmoPG
— Roberto Feletti (@RobertoFeletti) March 7, 2023
“By this I mean that the debt does not only imply getting rid of it, but to generate the conditions of possibility to better distribute income.”
In addition, he pointed out that debt to the IMF generates a trade surplus that, “it improves the portfolio of the companies that canceled their principal and interest debts”.
For this reason, in the document, the economists maintain the need to strengthen and improve the management of the Central Bank’s reserves, mainly linked to foreign trade (under-invoicing-over-invoicing), and secondly, take into account the dollars that are going to cancel the liabilities of private companies.
However, “Advancing in this line would not generate the necessary conditions for the economic sustainability of the process if it is not accompanied by an increase in wages,” he concludes.
The document bears the signatures of the economists Ricardo Aronskind, Marisa Duarte, Juan Pablo Costa, Roberto Feletti, Pablo Manzanelli, Jorge Marchini, Felisa Miceli, Horacio Rovelli, Jose Sbatella and Guillermo Wierzba, and the meeting was coordinated by Vicente Alvarez and Eduardo Berrozpe .
