MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Mrs. Kirchner willing to discuss with opposition about central bank reserves

Senator Miguel Angel Pichetto, said government open to “reasonable concessions”

The administration of Argentine president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner said it is willing to discuss with the opposition the Bicentennial Fund project which aims to service public debt with reserves from the Central Bank and which triggered a three branches confrontation that ended in the resignation of the bank’s president Martin Perez Redrado.

Senator Miguel Angel Pichetto, head of the Victory Front caucus in the Senate, admitted the ruling party could accept making “reasonable concessions” on the Bicentennial Fund project although he accused the opposition of “hindering” the government project.

However opposition Radical Congressman Oscar Aguad cautioned that a “vast majority” will vote against the creation of the fund in the Argentine Lower House if the Senate opposition reaches “an agreement” within the next few days.

The emergency decree signed by President Cristina Kirchner ordering the creation of the Bicentennial Fund has to be debated in Congress but so far the voting is reportedly heading to a 35-35 tie in the Senate with the deciding votes in the hands of two La Pampa province senators who had not announced their decision yet.

However, opposition lawmakers are confident of quashing the project in the Lower House. “If we reach an agreement, we will have a vast majority to reject it” said Aguad, who added the project could be debated in an “special session” on March 2, before its debate in Senate.

Pichetto claimed the opposition aims at “putting obstacles” to the government plans to pay public debt and said he was “optimistic” about the voting in Senate.

“Now that the government is trying to adopt measures to return to international markets, (the opposition) tries to hinder them,” said the ruling party Senator. “But there is a long way to go until March 3 in order to achieve the approval of the emergency decree in Senate,” added Pichetto, who said the ruling party “will continue to dialogue” with other blocs.

Agustín Rossi, head of the ruling party caucus in the Lower House, claimed the government has 35 votes “confirmed” for the voting in Senate and added he hopes “someone clicks with rationality,” in a tacit reference to the La Pampa senators who haven’t announced their vote yet.

“We have a bloc of 35 senators confirmed so, in the case that all senators are present during the voting, we need two more votes,” said Rossi.

The Santa Fe deputy also said a possible rejection to the emergency decree would not affect the country’s economy, although he stated “the level of stability and predictability we were aiming at with the Bicentenary Fund” would not be reached.

Rossi said the ruling party “continues to work in the Senate and the Lower House” and added he expects to “find a level of agreement and consensus by the first week of March” in order to approve the decree, while the opposition is acting with “a high level of institutional and political irresponsibility.”

Radical Deputy Ricardo Gil Lavedra agreed with Aguad’s statements and said the opposition has the necessary votes to reject the controversial decree while he insisted there will be “no agreement with the ruling party.”

Gil Lavedra considered the emergency decree “actually aims to appropriate the federal reserves to use them for current expenses” and criticized the decision of the government to create the Bicentenary Fund by decree.

The cash strapped Mrs. Kirchner administration is anxious to return to voluntary money markets but before must reach an agreement with holdouts of (2002) defaulted bonds, totalling 20 billion USD, and the Club of Paris, an international government to government credit organization.
The so called Bicentennial Fund is considered the collateral demanded by bondholders to begin talks.