Economy Minister Sergio Massa will travel to Washington this week to attend the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. Both will be between Wednesday and Friday. On the agenda meetings with Ian Goldfajndirector of the IMF’s Western Hemisphere Department, as well as a bilateral working session with Gopinath excursionDeputy General Manager of the Monetary Fund.
Massa will be joined by the deputy minister Gabriel Rubinstein. The IMF approved on Friday the second revision of its agreement with the country – This green light will allow it to strengthen the reserves of the Central Bank with 3,800 million dollars in the next few days.
The meetings of the IMF and the World Bank bring together economic and financial authorities from around the world. Inflation is the main problem to be addressed. The central banks of dozens of the richest countries in the world are increase in interest rates, in an attempt to slow the rise in the cost of living, even at the cost of causing a recession. In Spain, the United States and the United Kingdom there is talk of a crisis “never seen before” with accumulated inflation of between 8% and 10%. Over the same period, the year-over-year increase in the cost of living exceeded 78% in Argentina.
Massa’s agenda also includes activities under the G20 such as the ministerial meeting and a closed-door meeting promoted by India, a country that next year, according to Economics, will hold the presidency of the G20.
Argentina has obtained two waivers (sorry) for two issues: one for non-compliance relating to art exchange restrictions and “multiple monetary practices”. The other for “applicability” for two targets at the end of September for which data were not yet available, including the primary budget balance.
“The situation remains very fragile and the risks to the program are very high,” the IMF noted in a document accompanying the review.
Massa will attend a meeting with government representatives organized by the Atlantic Council, an influential think tank dedicated to global issues. There will also be executives from American companies. In the environment of the minister, they highlight the interest in investments in strategic sectors such as “energy, gas, agri-food, proteins, knowledge-based services and mining”.
The minister will participate in the discussion of finance ministers organized by the Inter-American Development Bank in the context of the 56th meeting of the Network of Central Banks and Finance Ministries of Latin America and the Caribbean together with Mario Marcel (Minister of Finance of Chile), José Antonio Ocampo (Minister of Finance and Public Credit of Colombia), Rogelio Ramírez de la O (Secretary of Finance and Public Credit of Mexico) and Azucena Arbeleche (Minister of Economy and Finance of Uruguay).
– The official agenda also includes bilateral meetings with Rogelio Ramírez de la O, Secretary of Finance and Public Credit of Mexico, with Nureddin Nebati, Minister of Finance of Turkey (with inflation levels similar to those of Argentina), with Nadia Calviño Santamaría, Vice President of the Government and Minister of Economy and Digital Transformation of Spain. On the agenda Pascal Saint-Amans, president of the OECD Fiscal Affairs Commission, Paulo Guedes -Minister of the Economy of Brazil- with Paolo Gentiloni, Commissioner for the Economy of the EU, and with the authorities of the European Bank for Investments (EIB).
Source: Clarin
