But there is no hiding the frostiness. The budget deficit is expected to exceed 4% of GDP this year; the government’s overall debt stands at 93% of GDP. Matías Kulfas, a central-bank official during Ms Fernández’s presidency, has been put in charge of a “ministry of productive development”, which will be responsible for production, trade, energy and mining. The annualised inflation rate exceeds 50%. Mr Fernández and Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s far-right president, speak of having “pragmatic relations”. “This is a new act of persecution with only one goal: to place a former president who opposes the current government in the defendant’s bench during a presidential campaign.”At the courtroom, she listened to the charges against her while she sat next to her attorney, but she did not comment. Argentina’s new government will not accept in its current form a trade deal negotiated by Mercosur, a four-country trade bloc, with the European Union. Her influence suggests that reforming the state and combating corruption will not be priorities for the new administration.Ms Fernández had a hand in the choice of the ministers of interior, defence and security. He has pronounced Mr Zannini innocent. That would push inflation still higher. Mr Guzmán got the economy ministry only after she had vetoed two other candidates, says the adviser. The country’s net foreign-exchange reserves are just $12bn, about three months’ worth of imports.
She denies any wrongdoing and she remains a highly popular if divisive figure among Argentines.“A new trial where I should have never been summoned is beginning,” Fernández said on Twitter. Her running mate, who also served as Cabinet chief during her late husband’s presidency, is now one of the at least 150 witnesses in the case.“Cristina will be able to prove that the charges are false,” Alberto Fernández told reporters. “This is Alberto’s economic team, and he will be in charge on this front,” says an adviser to the new president.Yet Mr Fernández has not laid to rest fears that Ms Fernández will have undue influence over his government. Fernandez is in court for the first in a series of corruption trials. The president-elect himself has warned that the risk of default is high. To bring that about, he has assembled a team of economists with heterodox ideas, some of them veterans of Ms Fernandez’s disastrous presidency. But an adviser to the new president admits, “There are no easy answers on the economy, and no good options.”Mr Fernández’s central problem is that Argentina lacks the money to deliver the relief he has promised. He wants to raise public- and private-sector wages and pensions, and plans to keep a cap on utility prices that was due to expire at the end of 2019. He has a target of doubling exports during the four-year life of the government.The new government is expected to keep capital controls introduced by Mr Macri as an emergency measure to curb the depreciation of the peso and curb inflation, and to reach a pact with employers and trade unions to hold down prices and wages. The Argentine peso also lost more than half of its value versus the U.S. dollar last year.Cristina Fernández is known for her populism and unorthodox economic policies, and while some credit her for leading Argentina out of an economic crisis, others blame her for creating its current turmoil.Macri promised to curb inflation and end poverty, but so far has failed on both counts. Her supporters will be in charge of the agencies that handle taxation, pensions and care of old people, all of which have big budgets and jobs to offer political allies.
Argentina’s new president, Alberto Fernandez, made a conciliatory inauguration speech, in which he called for national unity and promised to defend democracy and human rights. That may mean that salaries will rise by less than Mr Fernández has implied.The biggest question is how quickly the new team plans to cut inflation and generate the primary fiscal surplus, ie, before debt-service payments, needed to repay what remains of Argentina’s debts, including to the IMF. She had been expected to run directly against conservative President Mauricio Macri during the October election.Security agents cordoned off the federal courtroom in Buenos Aires as Fernández arrived to face charges of heading “an illegal association” for embezzlement involving public works projects during her 2007-2015 presidency.
He contends that Ms Fernández and jailed members of her government are victims of “political persecution”. As attorney-general Mr Zannini, who was released from jail in 2018 and denies all charges, will lead the government’s anti-corruption unit as well as its team of lawyers.Mr Fernández has already signalled that he is not concerned about the alleged misdeeds of his senior officials. The weekend announcement that Alberto Fernández — no relation — would instead lead the ticket shook up the election race and forced political parties to rethink their strategies. (AP Photo/Marcos Brindicci)Connect with the definitive source for global and local news
Peronist presidential candidate Alberto Fernández waves to supporters after a decisive win for him and running mate, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. ... will lead the government’s anti-corruption unit as well as its team of lawyers.
Alberto Fernández seeks to bolster state coffers with tax raid on country’s most powerful industry ... Argentina must preserve anti-corruption legacy. The two men embraced after Macri handed Fernández the presidential sash and staff, traditional symbols of leadership. Outside, dozens of sympathizers chanted her name and waved national flags in sky-blue and white. It will be hard to revive growth without busting the budgetALBERTO FERNANDÉZ began his term as Argentina’s president on December 10th in unorthodox fashion. The peso tumbled more, pushing inflation still higher.Mr Fernández wants to reverse the sequence that Mr Macri had in mind: he is betting that growth will lead to a revival of confidence rather than the other way around. His trial has been delayed indefinitely.
There is worried speculation that the central bank will pay for expensive promises such as boosting pensions by printing money, even though its new president, Miguen Pesce, is thought to be a safe choice.