Federal Prosecutor Guillermo Marijuan and Buenos Aires City Congressman Yamil Santoro filed separate criminal complaints Monday against former President Alberto Fernández after Martín Guzmán, who served as Economy Minister under him, said in an interview that the Covid-19 quarantines were extended for political gain rather than out of a sanitary concern.
Only last Monday Mauricio Claver-Carone, president of the Inter American Development Bank, IDB, published a letter in the Wall Street Journal blasting Argentina's tumultuous financial record, adding that IDB ”cannot rubber-stamp loan requests, without prudently ensuring it has a development impact.”
Argentina's newly-appointed Economy Minister, Silvina Batakis, made a brief statement to the press minutes after taking her oath of office, during which she vowed to stay on the present course of action left behind by her predecessor Martín Guzmán, who resigned Saturday.
Argentine President Alberto Fernández chose Silvina Batakis as the new Economy Minister following the resignation of Martín Guzmán during the weekend, a move which has prompted a rise in the informal exchange rate between the local peso and the US dollar, thus fueling already seemingly unstoppable inflation.
Martín Guzmán has turned in his resignation Saturday as Economy Minister of Argentina, dealing with what many regards as a coup de grace to the administration of President Alberto Fernández, amid rampant inflation and growing popular discontent following additional restrictive measures regarding imports and the purchase of hard currency (namely US dollars) for transactions abroad, where the local peso carries no weight.
Argentina's Domestic Trade Secretary Roberto Feletti has turned in his resignation after his office was relocated from the Ministry of Productive Development to the Ministry of Economy.
Argentina's National Institute for Statistics and Census (Indec) Thursday announced that inflation for the month of April of 2022 had reached 6% for a total of 58% in the last 12 months, which turned out to be the country's highest figure in 30 years.
The United States Ambassador to Buenos Aires was full of praise for Economy Minister Martín Guzmán's handling of the recent deal between Argentina and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), saying the work he did was impressive.
Argentine President Alberto Fernández is leaving Monday on a European tour that regardless of what it may achieve (or not) in economic and political terms, will at least remove him from the spotlight of controversies within the ruling Frente de Todos (FdT) while at the same time leaving Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (CFK) at the helm of the Executive.
As Argentina's inflation continues to grow with no end in sight and the news is that guidelines agreed upon with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) already need to be reviewed because they were based on a CPI that is no longer attainable, Economy Minister Martín Guzmán is beginning to take flak from friends and foes alike, casting doubts on his chances of remaining in office.