MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentine presidential candidate proposes “a national unity government”: 'option can't be bad or worse'

“I believe that the solution to the problems of Argentina can't be addressed or provided by a single political party” stressed economist Lavagna.

Argentine presidential candidate and ex Economy minister Roberto Lavagna said that the country needs “a national unity government” to overcome the current situation and it's no option having to choose between “bad and worse”.

Lavagna who with Federal Consensus is the third in dispute, quite distant from the election polarized between repentant populist Alberto Fernandez and the incumbent market friendly Mauricio Macri, (thus his comment about 'bad and worse'), said that Argentina is suffering eight full years of a total failure, four from the last government and four from the current one.

“We need to overcome this pendulum cycle of populism which thinks in distribution without investment, and another project which is only interested in financial markets without taking into account physical production”.

That is why “ I believe that the solution to the problems of Argentina can't be addressed or provided by a single political party” stressed economist Lavagna.

“We need a government of national unity which takes the best from each experience. We need to combine social sensitivity with the efficiency of a productive model,” added Federal Consensus presidential candidate.

Lavagna said that paying interest rates is “the highest public cost that Argentina is facing”, and certainly “the State, and I underline, can't be the dumb partner of massive financial speculation”.

“Our group has proposed a food emergency program that could very well be financed with half a point of the interest rates. Speculative funds are the ones that make the most out of the dramatic situations, and that is another reason why I believe the IMF will be sending to Argentina the next outlay of funds”, Lavagna explained.

Argentina last year was granted a US$ 57bn standby loan to face a dramatic financial situation and help prop the economy which suffered a serious shortfall with the loss of over half of the crops, because of an exceptional drought, and no investment response from the protected industrial sector which fears the opening up of the Argentine economy and exposure to competition.

Lavagna also recalled that while serving as Economy minister for two different presidents, Eduardo Duhalde and Nestor Kirchner, there was strong growth and creation of jobs.

“International conditions currently are better than those in 2002. We has a good performance during that time and the upsurge was not a consequence of the huge collapse of previous years. We managed to have the magic double, which are budget surplus and foreign trade surplus”.