The meeting started at noon in Washington, in the framework of the Spring Assembly of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank which takes place in the US capital.
“Very good meeting with Minister @Martin_M_Guzman. We discussed Argentina’s continued economic recovery, the challenge of addressing inflation in the face of the impact of the war in Ukraine, and progress towards the first review of the program,” Gergieva highlighted from her Twitter account at the end of the meeting.
“We have exceeded the fiscal goals for the first quarter, and we have managed to accumulate reserves”, Guzmán told the press at the end of the meeting.
The meeting is part of the “almost weekly” dialogue between Guzmán and Georgieva, which is why today the work of the last few days was reviewed and the progress that has been verified in the implementation of the agreement with the Fund, after the agreement reached at early March to reschedule the US$44 billion debt.
The head of the Palacio de Hacienda explained that in the meeting it was analyzed that “The fiscal path was in line with what was agreed, there is overcompliance with respect to the monetary issue, reaching 0.15% of the product” and “growth in the accumulation of international reserves” was obtained.
“The economic program is in line with what was planned. The economy continues to grow steadily and generate employment,” assured the minister, giving details of the meeting with Georgieva, as part of an agenda of meetings that he developed during the day.
In the same sense, Guzmán emphasized that “the economic program helps Argentina to continue growth and attack inflation”, for which “the goals are not going to change” but rather “social protection policy is being reprioritized given the impact of the war on food prices.
The perspective of the local economy that Guzmán raised was, in part, validated this week by the IMF, by raising growth projections for Argentina to 4% in 2022, an improvement compared to what was forecast last January, while lowering the global expansion projections due to the consequences of the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Both in the meeting with Georgieva and in many of the bilateral meetings that the minister has been holding in Washington, the international context and the implications of the war in Ukraine were analyzed, which are generating an inflationary process at a global level.
“There are countries that did not have inflation and today have two-digit indicators. There is an international consensus to avoid the distributive consequences of the crisis. Importance of governments to avoid the increase in inequality and promote a shared economic recovery”Guzmán said in that sense.
The war between Russia and Ukraine has altered economic variables around the world, with a strong rise in the prices of grains and energy, added to the consequent increase in inflation at levels not seen for 40 years. These kinds of issues are probably present in the meeting between the minister and the head of the IMF.
Guzmán participated yesterday in Washington in the summit of ministers of Finance and presidents of Central Banks of the member countries of the G-20 and the International Monetary and Financial Committee. There they were in evidence the differences of opinion that led to that meeting between the different countries facing the war between Eastern Europewhich prevented the elaboration of a joint declaration.
The Argentine minister, like the representatives of all the emerging countries of the G20, refused to join a boycott by the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada against Russia in the context of the invasion of Ukraine. As they left the meeting, leaders from countries such as Brazil, Italy, Japan, Switzerland and Argentina remained in the room.
From the conclave of the Financial Committee, the differences in criteria that led to that meeting between the different countries in the face of the armed conflict became evident, which prevented the elaboration of a joint declaration. “The assessment made by the G20 countries about the positive role played by the National Congress in the processes of restructuring the external public debt and the agreement with the IMF is almost general”, Guzman said in his speech.
Source: Ambito
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