Argentine Economics

[Surferbeetle]

From the 6 Jan '10 Bloomberg Argentina Seeks Central Bank Ouster Over Debt Plan (Update2) By Bill Faries and Drew Benson

Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner tried to fire central bank chief Martin Redrado after he failed to back a plan to tap $6.6 billion in reserves to pay debt, setting off a constitutional clash with Congress.

Redrado, who almost tripled reserves to $48 billion since taking office in September 2004, told opposition politicians he won’t leave his post, Senator Gerardo Morales said. The power to dismiss the central bank head rests with Congress, Morales said. Fernandez’s proposed replacement, former central bank President Mario Blejer, declined the offer, El Cronista reported.

Fernandez targeted Redrado as the government seeks to return to international markets for the first time since its 2001 default on $95 billion of debt by settling claims with creditors. Argentine bonds fell the most since Nov. 30, the peso weakened and the Merval stock index lost 1.6 percent.

Wikipedia entry for Argentine economic crisis (1999–2002)

The Argentine economic crisis was a financial situation that affected Argentina's economy during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Macroeconomically speaking, the critical period started with the decrease of real GDP in 1999 and ended in 2002 with the return to GDP growth, but the origins of the collapse of Argentina's economy, and their effects on the population, can be found in action before. As of 2005, arguably the crisis was over, though many challenges remain for the country.

[Vahid]

The Argentinian economic contraction of the early 2000s (and before) can be, in the main, imputed to its subservient observance of the notorious Structural Adjustment Programmes, which have wreaked havoc in Latin America. At the very outset of its co-operation with the IMF and the World Bank, although Argentine had been heralded as a success story (it pegged its currency to dollar, prioritised privatisation), what later ensued has been quite emblematic of many Latin American countries. A comparison with Brazil, where Lula da Silva has been walking a fine line between the Neo-liberal elite and the left-leaning civil society averse to privatisation would prove very insightful. Brazil has made a tremendous headway from the days of economic regression characterised by an egregious level of inequality and inflation to a more equality-based growth. A major part of its developmental success has also been attributable to its non-compliance with the prescriptions put forward as part of the Washington Consensus.

[Bill Moore]

An Argentine Navy training vessel is seized in Ghana because Argentina isn't paying their bills? I wonder if foreign governments and private debters will seize our military hardware if we default on our loans?

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/0ba31...#axzz2AeHkoTZZ

No liberty for Argentine ship Libertad

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Nearly three weeks since Argentina’s flagship navy training vessel was seized in Ghana at the behest of a US hedge fund, there is no liberty for the Libertad.

The imposing tall ship, its white sails furled and flags fluttering over its masts, has been stuck in Tema, Ghana’s biggest seaport, since October 2. Meanwhile, Argentina has mobilised diplomats, officials and lawyers to try to find a way out of an embarrassing impasse that could drag on past Christmas.

http://articles.economictimes.indiat...reign-ministry

Investors want $20 mn for Argentine navy training ship Libertad

ACCRA (Ghana): International investors put a $20 million price tag on an Argentine navy training ship on Thursday after a judge in Ghana ruled that the ARA Libertad cannot set sail until the South American country settles claims for unpaid debts.

The US creditors are demanding payment in full on Argentine bonds for which most investors accepted 30 cents on the dollar in 2005. Justice Richard Agyei-Frimpong had ordered the tall sailing ship held at Tema harbor days earlier after creditors cited judgments in the US and Britain approving the seizure of Argentine assets anywhere in the world. On Thursday, he said Argentina failed to persuade him to remove the injunction.