MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

“Two demands short”

In spite of official optimism and an encouraging release from the IMF mission that left Argentina after scrutinizing the country's economic policies, budget and accounts, aid from the multilateral organization still seems distant, maybe too distant a countdown for the Duhalde administration.

President Duhalde proudly pointed out that Argentina had complied with eight of the ten points demanded by the IMF to begin formal negotiations for the disbursement of a package aid frozen since last December.

One of the shortcomings is the proliferation of provincial "currencies" and bonds, parallel money printed by fourteen different provinces and which already make up almost half of the money circulation in Argentina.

The other is the bankruptcy legislation that favours companies and limits creditors. In both cases the government argues that the "money" is needed to keep the economy running and the bill to avoid thousands of companies from going bust and prevent 22% unemployment from climbing.

Among complied demands are the approval of the budget; a financial agreement with provincial governments and a free floating currency. The government is also working in mending fences with banks and privatized utility companies (mostly foreign) plus drafting judicial, political and social security reforms.

In the "encouraging" release the IMF delegation headed by Mr. Anoop Singh indicates that it's necessary "to advance in solving fiscal affairs and the stability of the financial system", adding that it expects the Duhalde administration in the coming weeks, will achieve "a significant improvement in the primary balance of the consolidated public sector in 2002, through combined efforts of the federal and provincial governments".

A government spokesman, Deputy Economy Minister Jorge Todesca, said Argentina was satisfied with the IMF mission work and expects to sign an agreement with the IMF in late April, although "we don't know the entity of the disbursement".

From Puerto Iguazú, in Argentina's northern border, an optimistic President Duhalde anticipated that the country will recover from the crisis "before expected".

However with revenue dropping, bank deposits and savings frozen, the economy stalled it's hard to see how the administration will pay March salaries and have sufficient breathing space until late April.