Argentina’s Economy Minister Martin Guzman resigned from his post amid strong internal divisions in the government of Alberto Fernandez and after a week of tensions in the markets as a reaction to measures that show the macroeconomic imbalances of the South American country.
Guzmán presented his resignation to Alberto Fernández in a letter he made public through the social network Twitter.
The management of Guzmán, who was part of the Executive since December 2019, was the center of criticism from both the opposition and the official wing led by Argentine Vice President Cristina Fernández, who has questioned the fiscal adjustment committed in the agreement sealed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) last March.
“It has been a true honor to accompany him in the task of putting our country on its feet. Together we have taken steps to help our country’s economy recover and grow. The hour needs whoever you dispose of to take the reins of the ministry that until today I had the honor of leading,” Guzman said in his letter.
He considered that “it will be essential that he works on a political agreement within the ruling coalition” so that whoever replaces him “has the centralized management of the macroeconomic policy instruments necessary to consolidate the progress described and face the challenges ahead.”
“That will help whoever succeeds me to carry out the efforts leading to economic and social progress with the political support that is necessary for those to be effective,” he said.
In his extensive letter, Guzmán reviewed his management, marked by the restructuring of the debt with private creditors, the negotiation with the IMF, the challenges involved in receiving an economy in recession since 2018 and then hit by the pandemic and the “disruptive” factor of the war in Ukraine.
He highlighted, among other points, that last year the Argentine economy managed to recover by 10.4%.
“Today the economy continues to grow and generate employment, having already passed the first review of that program (with the IMF), and having managed to adapt it to the changing global circumstances in the context of the war in Ukraine,” he said.
“Ahead, it will be essential to continue strengthening macroeconomic consistency, including fiscal, monetary, financing, exchange and energy policies, as well as coordination via price and income policies, to attack the inflationary problems that damage the functioning of our economy and continue to recover the purchasing power of income,” he added.
Guzman’s resignation marks a tense week in foreign exchange markets, with the dollar’s price at record levels following the Central Bank’s decision to impose more restrictions on companies’ access to foreign exchange to pay for imports, a move that seeks to take care of the country’s meager monetary reserves.
Argentina also faces a scenario of accelerating inflation and must meet challenging fiscal and monetary targets assumed in the agreement with the IMF, questioned by Cristina Fernández, who this Saturday, at the time when Guzmán presented his resignation, reiterated his differences regarding the economic management of the Government.
That of Guzmán, a man who until now had publicly defended Alberto Fernández, is the second resignation that in less than a month occurs within the Government Cabinet.
At the beginning of June, also in the midst of tensions with the vice president, who resigned was Matías Kulfas as Minister of Productive Development, another man close to the president and key in the management of industrial policy.
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