The market received Silvina Batakis as Cristina Kirchner’s Minister of Economy

The era of Silvina Batakis as Minister of Economy begins to stumbles. Between the time his name came out on Sunday night and the time he took office, the expected happened. The devaluation of the peso worsened, the collapse of bonds and equities continued and, above all, the distrust that this government awakens in economic actors.

The reactions have been defensive to protect your own take off weight buy dollars or roll down shop shutters so you don’t have to sell goods at the wrong price. The above is valid at all levels: savings dollar for the small saver, dollar calculated with liquidity or future dollar for the more sophisticated. Blue dollar for those who want to stay out of police radar. The defense of one’s own can also be closing the doors of a bicycle shop, a corralón or a car dealership. Uncertainty and mistrust.

The Ministry of Economy has touched Batakis as it could have touched another. In the end, it was the turn of the person who will nominally act as Minister of Economy in that government Cristina Fernández de Kirchner directs, directs and designs to her liking.

That president Alberto Fernández asked Batakis if he was willing to do so respect “their” economic program it’s a detail. The economic program is in favor of the issuance, of the fiscal deficit, of tariff subsidies. It is the economic program of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. There is no doubt about this.

It is the economic program of former minister Martín Guzmán, who left the government despite the economy being “solid” -said this Monday- and in the middle of a growth crisis Alberto Fernández said this last week.

Up until ten minutes before the name of Batakis appeared, it was assumed in the business establishment that the emerging figure of this crisis was the president of the Chamber of Deputies. Serge Massa. And businessmen thought it was good news, according to testimonials gathered by this newspaper. it didn’t happen. Massa is still in the Deputies.

Massa, apparently, said the same thing that Martín Guzmán had said. More power on the “button panel” of the dashboard for economic decisions.

they denied it. And that perhaps added a little more distrust and nervousness to this new one Black Mondaywhich is likely to stretch on Tuesday when Wall Street trades in full swing.

What we have seen so far is that the keyboard, through intermediaries, It is managed by the Vice President. It has become clearer than ever to the market and to society at large who did it the famous pen The peculiarity of the financial market is that, in its own way, it votes every day.

Now the minister’s signals are awaited. From the training of your work team to the specific decisions you make on the fiscal front: whether or not there is a segmentation of rates or more generalized increases, if there is the intention to reduce the deficit. “I believe in fiscal balance” he said shortly after the swearing-in ceremony. He did not clarify whether that balance would be achieved by lowering expenses and subsidies or by raising taxes. Batakis has already held a meeting with the Central Bank and there was talk of deepening the local capital market. In banks they read that line as an anticipation that they will be required to participate more in future pesos debt auctions.

It is also expected whether in response to accelerating inflation – advisors continue to adjust their upward projections – there will be more price controls and whether or not a decision is made to increase withholding taxes on agricultural exports.

The Batakis era begins complicated. So much so that a question that has been repeated in these hours is how long the Batakis era will last.