MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

No call, just a message from Argentine President to IMF Chief

Georgieva had praised Batakis' efforts, but she was no longer Economy Minister upon arriving back from the US

Argentine President Alberto Fernandez sent International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva a message explaining the cabinet reshuffle currently underway.

Initial reports from Casa Rosada that the head of state had had a telephone conversation Thursday with the global agency's top executive were corrected Friday to explain that there had been no personal contact and that only a note had been sent.

The large-scale political move whereby Lower House Speaker Sergio Massa is to become “Superminister” of Economy, Agriculture and Production will be finalized next week, as soon as his resignation as Deputy is accepted.

At first, it had been reported that there had been a telephone communication between President Fernández and the IMF head, who had met just hours earlier with Silvina Batakis, who was being laid off as Economy Minister while she was still on her flight back to Buenos Aires from the United States, after failing to calm down the markets and the “blue” price of the US dollar grew out of control.

Batakis has lasted less than a month on the job, although Georgieva highlighted her “initial efforts” to strengthen fiscal sustainability, while the World Bank approved a US$ 200 million loan to the country.

Georgieva's reply to Fernández's message was not made public, not even if there actually was any reply.

“Sergio Massa was my squire when it came to gathering the political support in Congress to approve the agreement that Argentina signed with the IMF,” Fernández reportedly told Georgieva.