The General Auditor of the Nation Juan Ignacio Forlón affirmed this Friday that during the government of Mauricio Macri there was an “issuance of an unsustainable public debt” that compromised “resources and expenses” and reaffirmed that laws related to the analyzes prior to the borrowing.
The General Audit of the Nation (AGN) concluded this week that during the previous government “laws were broken” on public debt, by issuing an “adverse” opinion on the Investment Account for fiscal year 2018.
“The Audit reports determined that, in 2018, during the Presidency of Mauricio Macri, laws and other current regulations were not complied with, mainly on the chapter on public debt,” Forlón remarked in a post on the social network Twitter.
“The lack of prior analysis led to the issuance of an unsustainable public debt, compromising resources and expenses, as well as the financial result of the Investment Account”Juan Ignacio Forlon
In this sense, he explained: “In relation to the credit subscribed with the IMF (International Monetary Fund) for an amount of 56,500 million dollars, Resolution 108/09 and article 61 of Law 24,156 were not complied with, norms that provide that, prior to the issuance, the feasibility of the operation and the repayment capacity be analyzed”.
“The lack of prior analysis led to the issuance of an unsustainable public debt, compromising the resources and expenses, as well as the financial result of the Investment Account,” added Forlón.
He also explained that “in 2018 the Central Administration debt reached 85.6% of GDP (Gross Domestic Product), increasing compared to the previous year when it reached 56.8% of GDP.”
“The country’s total foreign debt reached 277,827 million dollars, reaching 71.9% of GDP,” the auditor general remarked.
The National Constitution, Law 24,156 and other regulations provide that in matters of sovereign indebtedness, either the National Congress approving the indebtedness through the enactment of a law or the President of the Nation through the signing of a decree intervenes previously.
— Juan Ignacio Forlón (@jiforlon) February 10, 2023
Forlón also stated that “as of 12/31/18 the maturities of the Central Administration for the year 2019 reached 86,448 million dollars, representing 192.7% of the stock of international reserves which, in an unfavorable context, meant a high risk of non-payment”.
Given this, the auditor general explained that the National Constitution, Law 24,156 and other regulations provide that in matters of sovereign indebtedness he intervenes previously; or the National Congress approving the indebtedness through the enactment of a law; or the President of the Nation by signing a decree”.
However, “in the case of the credit signed with the IMF, none of the parties formally intervened in the Agreement,” concluded Forlón.
“The Audit reports determined that, in 2018, during the Presidency of Mauricio Macri, laws and other current regulations were not complied with, mainly on the chapter on public debt”Juan Ignacio Forlon
The Public Debt Supervision Commission of the National Audit Office (AGN) pointed out this Tuesday that the agreement with the IMF of 2018, during the administration of former President Mauricio Macri, incurred in a “breach of standard procedures”, among other things. issues.
“The stand-by loan from the International Monetary Fund does not meet the established criteria of the negotiation and execution process (current regulations),” said the AGN on the debt that the previous government administration assumed with the multilateral organization, in the audit report combined with respect to the 2018 investment account.
