A difficult chair to occupy: Sergio Massa still does not reveal who will be his deputy minister

“U-ni-dad, some workers, and who doesn’t like it, fuck it, fuck it!”. The chants rang out on Wednesday afternoon in the offices of the Ministry of Economy overlooking the Plaza de Mayo. From his office on the fifth floor, Sergio Massa has heard the echoes of the first pitch since he took control of the keyboard – or much of it – to try to tame the economy. six days later take the lead, it is not yet known who will support it in the Palazzo del Tesoro.

Despite the continuing consequences of the financial and currency crisis, the tiger does not feel obliged to designate a “brain” to design an economic plan for him and wear the suit of the deputy minister. The possible arrival of a figure radicalizing the minister’s announcements with a sharp fiscal adjustment and devaluation raised expectations in the market, but the foam subsided as the candidate’s election cooled.

The wink of the banks received on Tuesday in the bond swap gave him confidence to take your time. “I don’t know if Massa will have a deputy ministersome collaborators are missing, it is true, it is a very complex and numerous team, but the name game is not over, nor is it closed, and as the exchange showed, the team is working, but now it is not in difficulty, nor is it yet excessively busy, “said a source close to the head of the Treasury.

Gabriel Rubinstein, one of the tempted, may continue to dance after last week’s setback, when they brought him the chair and then moved it. The former official during the administration of Roberto Lavagna returned Wednesday from abroad and participated in the delivery of the Fortuna 2022 prizes on the Stock Exchange. He didn’t mention the rumors about his failed datebut when they are in privacy they question neither deny nor confirm.

Near Massa they do not deny this possibility. Before the economist’s harsh tweets against Cristina and Máximo Kirchner went viral, which ended up complicating their arrival and sowing doubts about the vice president’s possible veto, their promotion “excited” Domingo Cavallo. “It is important to know who will be the Deputy Minister of Economy because he (for Massa) has no professional training “, he told Profile yesterday.

Sergio Massa and the need for an economist

Massa is a lawyer, but close to him they relativize the requirements for managing the electrifying portfolio of the Economy. They believe that the scheme adopted allows it to divide the tasks among its secretaries and to count on the “innovative” help of its advisors: the head of customs, Guillermo Michel, his representative at the vice-presidency of the Central Bank, Lisandro Cleri, and the new external adviser to the portfolio, Daniel Marx, the only one with his own weight in the financial city.

Rubinstein’s poll stunned the financial world. His arrival would have consolidated the absence of Kirchnerists in the secretariats, with a few exceptions in Energia. But what attracted the most attention was his “stabilization” plan. In his “center” scenario, he envisioned a major fiscal adjustment, a fractionation of the exchange with an initial devaluation of the commercial dollar and a possible “friendly” reshaping of the dollar debt.

Massa, Cristina and Alberto oppose the exit from the devaluation and they prefer to resist exchange rate pressures that continue to squander reserves. The fear that a dollar shock would inspire him, something Emmanuel Álvarez Agis discouraged for the disastrous effect it would have on inflation and pockets ahead of the 2023 elections, was what would have discouraged Marina Dal Poggetto and discarded being the number of Economy Two.

“Politically they do not accept a devaluation, it is a condition they put on Massa and any economist sees that the thing knows that with this inflation and gap, a dollar at 130 dollars does not work, they are taking away the reserves, you have to devalue or disclose, what they want is to continue, but run from behind and it never reaches you, ”said a source familiar with the negotiations.

But in the minister’s team they deny these versions, as well as the poll by Miguel Peirano or the head of INDEC, Marco Lavagna.

Although the split has supporters between some advisors and several economists close to Massa, it is not contemplated for the moment. The minister continues his idea of ​​obtaining dollars with fiscal measures such as the greater reduction in subsidies and the spending cap. Yesterday the head of the IMF sent him a letter of support in the midst of the piquetero protest calling for the creation of jobs, the opening of floors and assistance to the kitchens.

The other stage in attracting foreign currency are negotiations with entrepreneurs through “incentives” to anticipate exports, multilateral credits and a path to which a new rate hike could be added on Thursday, followed by a major slip in the official exchange rate. . It is a clockwork mechanism when what is missing is time. This Thursday could accelerate as INDEC releases a new monthly inflation record.

YN