[Economics] Minister of Economy of Argentina questions the model of energy subsidies

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Martín Guzmán stressed the importance of investing in sectors that generated foreign exchange, employment and added value.

File image of the Argentine Minister of Economy, Martín Guzmán.

 

The Argentine Minister of Economy, Martín Guzmán, questioned the current model of energy subsidies in the country, in a veiled allusion to the policies defended by the political space of Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, and in the midst of strong differences within the ruling party .

In an interview broadcast this Monday by Urbana Play radio, Guzmán stressed the importance of investing in sectors that generate foreign currency, employment and added value, instead of "in things that do not end up helping the economy function," such as energy subsidies. that, not segmented, "favor the rich."

 

"In what country in the world has it worked to have energy subsidies of three, four points of GDP? In what country in the world does it work that there are persistent deficits financed with a currency that people, due to inflation, are beginning to stop wanting?" asked the head of Economy, one of the ministers most questioned by Kirchnerism, the faction of Peronism led by Fernández de Kirchner, president between 2007 and 2015.

The current vice president criticized the country's economic course last Friday, stating that "something or some are failing" if a low-wage production and export model has been chosen without resulting in an increase in dollar reserves.

During the radio interview, Guzmán forcefully defended the path of economic policy, based on "firm, logical and sensible" principles and on a program with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that has the "firm commitment" of the Executive.

Likewise, the official stressed that during the last term of Fernández de Kirchner there were "problems of macroeconomic consistency."

 

"Something good was a deep and much-needed restructuring of the debt, but later we had a situation in which the external dynamics were not sustainable," said the Minister of Economy, who ironically acknowledged that he is "hit from all sides," in reference to the criticism of Kirchnerism and the opposition against his administration.

division in government
These statements come at a time of great tension in the Government, divided between those supported by the president, Alberto Fernández, and those related to the vice president.

Last Friday, Fernández de Kirchner explained that the disagreements with the current president are not a "fight" or a "power dispute," but rather a "political debate" about the course of the country and the conditions imposed by the IMF.

The official tension is such that the president himself, half an hour before the vice president's statements, asked in a speech in the southern province of Tierra del Fuego: "Please, let's look at the future, let no one separate us, let's work together. That is what we need", exclaimed Alberto Fernández.

 

In this sense, Guzmán affirmed that the relevant "power disputes" for Argentina are those that achieve positive effects for the socioeconomic development of the country.

“If the debate leads Argentina to build a common sense that allows it to get out of what we have lived for so long, which is a lot of instability in the course, and puts us in a more firm place to have a stable course of growth with social inclusion and productive dynamism, then welcome”, said the minister. 

 

Link: https://www.eluniverso.com/noticias/internacional/ministro-de-economia-de-argentina-cuestiona-el-modelo-de-subsidios-energeticos-nota/