May 30, 2017

The Minister of Finance, Luis Caputo, met this afternoon at the Ministry of Finance with the Governor of Santa Cruz, Alicia Kirchner, to address the financial situation of the Province and to outline a course of action. The meeting was held within the context of the dialogue the National Government is having with said Province.

During the meeting, the 750-million pesos financing from Banco Nacion to the Province of Santa Cruz was ratified. Likewise, the officials analyzed the possibility of issuing a bond denominated in pesos in the local market.

The Minister of Finance, Luis Caputo, participated this Thursday in the Financial Stability Steering Committee Meeting held in London. The purpose of the meeting was to address different financial aspects that will be discussed at the G20 summit in Hamburg next July.

Caputo attended on behalf of Argentina and he said: “The FSB tries to place the international financial system in the path of economic growth”. In this sense, he added: “We also want the financial system to serve in Argentina for productivity, economic modernization and financial inclusion”.

During the meeting, the members of the Committee addressed the progress made in the reforms of the international financial system and they analyzed its consequences. The Committee addressed the need to transform the parallel financial system into a solid system based on the market. Likewise, they committed to continue working in addressing risks and vulnerabilities of emerging markets.

The FSB is an international body that monitors and makes recommendations about the global financial system to promote financial stability by coordinating governmental bodies as they work toward developing strong regulatory, supervisory and other financial sector policies.

In addition, the FSB works in the identification of the systemic risks in the financial sector with the objective of amending and implementing policies to address these risks. Nowadays, Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England, is the Chair of the FSB and the Secretary General of the organization is Svein Andersen.

The organization structure of the FSB consists of The Plenary, which is its sole decision-making body; a Steering Committee, which provides operational guidance between Plenary meetings to carry forward the directions of the FSB; and three Standing Committees: the Standing Committee on Assessment of Vulnerabilities (SCAV), the Standing Committee on Supervisory and Regulatory Cooperation (SRC) and the Standing Committee on Standards Implementation (SCSI).

The Minister of Finance, Luis Caputo, continued this Wednesday his agenda in China together with the team that accompanies President Mauricio Macri in his State visit. They participated in protocol ceremonies, working meetings between both countries’ teams and in the execution of cooperation agreements between the Argentine Republic and the People’s Republic of China.

Within that framework, Macri and the President of China, Xi Jinping, led the execution of the agreements on different areas such as investment in transportation, energy and IT. The documents are aimed at contributing to the development of economic relations between both countries.

In that sense, Caputo signed a memorandum of understanding with the President of China Development Bank (CDB), Zheng Zhijie, for the rehabilitation project of Belgrano Cargas (II) railway.

The Asian bank will finance the acquisition of railway equipment, works and services for a narrow-gauge train with a total extension of 1,400 km. The Belgrano Cargas (II) initiative connects the Provinces of the Mesopotamia area.

CDB was founded in 1994 and it is the biggest Chinese bank for foreign investment and financial cooperation. Over the last years, it has developed relations with 707 banks of 106 countries and regions, focusing on Latin America.

In addition, the Chief of Cabinet of the Ministry of Finance, Pablo Quirno, signed together with the Undersecretary of Economic Relations, Horacio Reyser, and Wang Xiaotao, the 2017-2021 China-Argentina comprehensive five-year plan for cooperation in infrastructure.

Finally, this Thursday, the Argentine team will travel to Japan to participate on Friday in the Argentina-Japan Business and Investment Forum “Partners for the development”, at which Minister Caputo will give a speech after President Macri’s exhibition.

The Minister of Finance, Luis Caputo, accompanied President Mauricio Macri in the first working day in China to promote the financing of infrastructure projects.

Luis Caputo participated in the ceremony of the execution of the OBOR “One Belt One Road” Forum’s Guiding Principles Document led by the President of China, Xi Jiping, within the framework of the official tour accompanying President Mauricio Macri in his State visit to the People’s Republic of China.

Argentina is one of the countries invited to sign the OBOR’s guiding principles, a Chinese initiative aimed at promoting the integration and development of Eurasia, by means of the coordination of policies, the development of infrastructure, the increase in trade, investment and financial aid, industrial integration, encouragement of technology transfer and the improvement of economic governance mechanisms.

Within that framework, Minister Caputo together with the Chief of Cabinet, Pablo Quirno, and the Undersecretary of International Financial Relations, Martin Soto, held a meeting with the President of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Luis Alberto Moreno.

Finally, Mr. Minister and his team attended a high-level plenary meeting and later, the opening panel on financial connectivity.

The team’s agenda will continue on Monday with a meeting between President Macri and the President of the World Bank, Jim Kim. In addition, Caputo will accompany Mr. President in different working meetings for the participants of the “One Belt One Road” Forum.