The former minister questioned the President’s delay in lifting capital controls. And he compared it to the quarantine of Alberto Fernández’s government due to Covid-19.
Alfonso Prat-Gay, the former Minister of Finance and Treasury who was in charge of lifting the exchange rate trap In 2015, he renewed his criticism of the national government by stating that President Javier Milei “fell in love” with the currency restrictions and compared it to the Covid-19 quarantine. The president said in Wall Street that they will continue with capital controls until the inflation rate “is zero.”
The economist, who served as Minister of Mauricio Macri during the first year of the government of Let’s change, He was in charge of giving the green light to the lifting of the restrictions on December 16, 2015. Today, a little less than nine years later, he questioned the national government for the delay in removing restrictions that govern the purchase and sale of foreign currency.
“He just fell in love with the stocks. Just like Alberto with the quarantine“, fired the former head of the BCRA during the government of Nestor Kirchner, after the President’s statements in the US. And he continued: “At least AF’s (locking us up) action was consistent with their ideology.”
Javier Milei announced when he will lift the restrictions
This morning, the head of state participated in the opening of the stock market session in the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)the New York Stock Exchangewhere he spoke to businessmen and women about the Argentine economy. There, revealed when they hope to end capital controls.
“We will release the restrictions when the inflation rate of the macroeconomic program is zero.“He said, and added: “Basically you have an observed consumer inflation of 4% and a program-induced inflation given the capital controls, given the ‘crawling peg’ and international inflation of 2.5%. Therefore, that inflation today is at 1.5%. When that 1.5% has disappeared, we will find ourselves in a situation where, in addition, the LeFis have disappeared and the monetary base in the traditional format matches the broad monetary base. At that point, the ‘money overhand’ will have disappeared and We will be able to open without any problems“.
Later, faced with the negative reaction that his words provoked in the Argentine market, the President lashed out “Some journalists make a living by expressing opinions without knowing” for having spread “a false news that said that the restrictions will be lifted when inflation is zero.” According to him, “the difference between observed inflation, the program’s inflation, and the residual inflation (which must be zero to lift the restriction)” was not distinguished.
Source: Ambito
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