“Alberto, I warned you”: Alfonso Prat-Gay, in front of Néstor Kirchner, the day he left the Central Bank

“Alfonso, you are wrong.

Alberto Fernández, Néstor Kirchner’s chief of staff, looked at the head of the central bank, Alfonso Prat-Gay. The president listened.

—Maybe I’m wrong, history will tell—The economist replied But you can’t say I didn’t warn you. We had talked about it with the weather in the week.

– I ask you please …

Kirchner ended the conversation a few minutes later with a few words.

It was about ten in the evening of Thursday 16 September 2004. The three were gathered in La Rosada. Although a week later Prat-Gay would cease to be president of the bank, Kirchner would activate a short list right there to replace Prat-Gay as soon as he walked through the exit door of the office that night: Javier González Fraga and Martín Redrado were the candidates.

If we take into account that Miguel Pesce’s mandate at the Central Bank expires this Friday (he completes the mandate started in 2016 with Federico Sturzenegger), the portrait of that time bears a certain resemblance to that of today: Budget, IMF and Central Bank were on the agenda at the time.

Although Prat-Gay’s departure took place that Thursday, it was not unexpected, as the economist told the chief of staff that night. It’s just that both of them had already met on Monday and Tuesday. Fernández nevertheless left the resolution of the procedure for the end.

– Alfonso, we need to talk about it.

– We’re out of time, Alberto.

– But it’s the 23rd that the mandate expires.

– It would have been good to send a signal first.

“Okay, but come anyway.”

The cabinet chief and the economist discussed the challenge that awaits us. The positions of president, vice president and four directors have expired in the Central Bank. And of those four, three of them who entered the bank were deemed to have responded to Kirchner: Waldo Farías, head of the lottery and economy minister of Santa Cruz when the president was governor; Miguel Pesce, then head of the Curatela, and Zenón Biagosh.

Prat-Gay aimed not only to keep the president and vice president. He was also in favor of introducing changes in terms of selection and eligibility for positions. “It’s an opportunity”.

—Give me 24 hours— Fernandez told him.

The next day, Tuesday, the chief of staff and Prat-Gay met again. Nothing has changed.

– I’ll tell Nestor.

-Do not expose it-Prat-Gay said. You know that in these conditions I will not continue.

Wednesday has passed. And Thursday arrived.

Prat-Gay was summoned to the Rosada at 7pm to speak with the president, who was with one foot on the plane to attend the United Nations Assembly where the main topic of his presentation would be debt renegotiation. Kirchner spoke for nearly forty minutes on economic matters. “He was passionate, he understood more than the average politician”recalls Prat-Gay. And he asked him to stay in office for another six years.

Prat-Gay replied that he thanked him, but that the directors had to be appointed with some eligibility requirements, an elegant way of saying he wanted to entrust the bank with a man he trusted. Prat-Gay also commented on Kirchner that the debt exchange strategy was wrong and saw no chance that the negotiation would be successful for the country.

This infuriated Lavagna, who had also spoken with Kirchner the day before (Wednesday) and Fernandez in La Rosada.

–Alfonso, you are a type of principles and I am a type of principles. I will not force you to work against your principles and you will not force me to change my principles. So thank you for the services rendered Kirchner replied.

That same Thursday Lavagna was in Congress to present the 2005 budget project (GDP 4%, primary surplus 3% of GDP and there would be no VAT reduction).

Blackboard told in his memoirs.

“The presentation of the project to Congress was altered by a call Kirchner made to me.”

– Did you say that before?

-What?

The day before, Wednesday, “We agreed that he would use that opportunity to be in Congress to announce that Alfonso Prat-Gay would be confirmed as president of the BCRA at the end of the statutory period, on September 23, 2004”.

– Hurry up and come here because I was wrong, I’ll explain laterKirchner said, as reproduced by Blackboard.

Kirchner recognized Prat-Gay’s work, hinted at it at that time with his people. “The boy is playing well,” he commented that same year about the 39-year-old economist. The IMF had said that inflation would be 35% in 2003 and Prat-Gay told them that this was impossible, that it would be less than 20%. In the end it was less than 4%.

Kirchner called that night, after speaking with Prat-Gay and Fernández, to Martín Redrado, deputy chancellor. He said yes. And Pesce was his 2.