MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Cristina Fernandez blasts those who invest in the 'illegal currency' (US dollar)

Addressing the Buenos Aires Stock market, Cristina Fernandez insisted with her defiant attitude, and also criticized congressional opposition

Argentine president Cristina Fernandez emphasized on Wednesday evening the need to amplify “the local financial market so we will not depend on foreign fluctuations,” during the celebration of Buenos Aires Stock Market 160th anniversary.

 “Those who invested in the illegal currency [in allusion to the so called Blue Dollar] lost against those who invested in the stock market,” the head of state asserted in a presentation to market and business figures, where she also insisted that widespread criticism over proposed changes to the controversial Anti-Hoarding law had been taken in good humor.

“I am not annoyed because a law has been criticized. We want them to tell us what the errors are in order to improve on them, and which parts are bad,” she explained.

“The state is there to regulate and avoid the most unprotected being hurt... in every country in the world there are consumer and user protection laws.”

In her speech, Cristina Fernandez criticized opposition parties who seek to cancel the controversial ‘Anti Terrorist Law’, applied for the first time by the federal government last week against Donnelley, a multinational printing company.

The US based entity was accused under charges of supposed tax fraud and illegal bankrupt.

She recalled the law “was voted by large majorities in Congress”, as part of an agreement with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), where Argentina serves as a permanent member among 34 other countries.

The head of state remarked the roll of industrialist should be “to encourage people to invest in the companies instead of investing in foreign currency,” and exemplified with the development that YPF state run Oil Company went through, since its nationalization from Spanish energy giant Repsol in 2012.

Regarding Tuesday's announcement over a new law which seeks to change the place of payment of Argentine bondholders from New York to local Banco Nación, the President stated:

“We realized they [holdouts] did not want to negotiate so we created the instruments to generate the fulfillment of our contracts and the sovereign payment of our debts”.