The Minister of Economy of the Argentine Republic, Martín Guzmán, after presenting the national cabinet and taking office, received the greetings and congratulations in his twitter account @Martin_M_Guzman of recognized national and international economists, international organizations, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and important universities.

One of the first to greet him was the American economist, Professor Joseph Stiglitz. The Nobel Prize in Economics wrote from his account @JosephEStiglitz “Congratulations to @Martin_M_Guzman, Argentina’s new Minister of Economy “.

In a videoconference held yesterday in Córdoba, the Nobel Prize defined the new Minister as “brilliant” and highlighted that “he knew he wanted to return to Argentina and make a contribution to his country.”

Gerry Rice, spokesman for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) congratulated Martin Guzmán, Matias Kulfas and Miguel Pesce on their respective appointments as Argentina’s Minister of Economy, Minister of Productive Development and President of the Central Bank respectively. From his account @IMFSpokesperson he pointed out that “We look forward to working with them.”

In its last tweet on Argentina, the international organization said that “The IMF maintains a constructive dialogue with the Argentine authorities focused on a better future for the country. We fully share Argentina’s objectives of pursuing policies that reduce poverty and foster sustainable growth.”

The universities where Guzmán studied and lectured also congratulated him. The Business School of the University of Columbia wished him luck on the important work ahead. The academic institution recalled, from its @Columbia_Biz account, that Martín Guzmán worked with Professor Joseph Stiglitz in studying macroeconomics and the sovereign debt conflict.

The Graduate Center of the School of Economics of the University of La Plata wrote: “Congratulations @Martin_M_Guzman new Minister of Economy, who has a high academic level and studied at our school @economicas_unlp. We wish him the greatest success in his management! ”

The Argentine economist, Sebastián Galiani, former Secretary of Economic Policy, congratulated the brand-new Minister of Economy and wished him that he could do the best for the country.

Some of the academic personalities who greeted him were Branko Milanović, a Serbian-American economist known for his work on income distribution and inequality; Dan Beeton, International Communications Director for the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR); Héctor Torres, former director for Argentina in the International Monetary Fund; Ingrid H. Kvangraven, Lecturer in International Development at the University of York; Kevin P. Gallagher, Professor of Global Development Policy and Director of the Global Economic Governance Initiative at Boston University; and Laura Carvalho, Professor of Economics at University of São Paulo and PhD New School for Social Research.

Guzmán also received the congratulations and support of Oded Galor, Israeli economist, and Robert Howse, Professor of International Law at NYU School of Law.

The Minister of Economy warmly responded all greetings. He wrote in a tweet on December 7: “Argentina, we are going to take care of you. Thank you president @alferdez for your confidence. We are going to work to put Argentina back on its feet. ”

The official account of Martín Guzmán is @Martin_M_Guzman, he joined Twitter in August 2015 and already has 61,900 followers. His website is https://martinmguzman.com

The Minister of Economy, Martín Guzmán, gave a press conference this afternoon to inform the main guidelines of the economic program. From the auditorium of the Ministry of Economy, Mr. Minister said: “It is clear that we have come to solve a very deep economic and social crisis. The situation today is extremely fragile. What have prepared a macroeconomic program, which is a program to stop the fall, given the restrictions we face today. ”

He also said that the model implemented by the previous management failed: “It is a model that in the world in general has never worked, it has generated greater vulnerability in the countries where it has been implemented and that is what happened in Argentina. Poverty rate is already close to 38%, extreme poverty rate in the second quarter of 2019 was 7.7% and it kept increasing, and unemployment rate doubled and it also continues growing. ”

“The task entrusted to me by the President is to work to stop the fall, to reassure the Argentine economy and lay the foundations for a development process that is sustainable and of course with social inclusion,” Guzmán said.

Regarding the fiscal issue, the official acknowledged that the country has problems: “Argentina has to converge to a situation of fiscal balance in which a primary surplus is reached. It is necessary for the achievement of debt sustainability. The problem is that it can’t be done all at once. 2020 is not a year in which a fiscal adjustment can be made because it would deepen recession. ”

Mr. Guzmán also said that “in 2020 we expect to start a gradual but persistent deflation process. It should not be addressed only with monetary policy as was done in the recent past; this must be dealt with from a comprehensive macroeconomic strategy”.

Regarding the debt issue, the Minister of Economy said that in order to avoid a brutal fiscal adjustment, it is necessary to solve this problem: “To be able to pay, the economy has to recover. We want to have a constructive relationship with all our creditors, with the private ones and with the IMF, understanding that there is a problem here and that we have to solve it so that everyone benefits and the creditors can collect ”.

In addition, a special ad hoc unit will be created for the Management of the Sustainability of External Public Debt. Guzmán will be running that unit as a minister and will be responsible for the design of external public debt policies.

As a first step, the official said that, during the period of extraordinary sessions in Congress, a Bill on Productive Reactivation and Solidarity will be presented. It will contain measures aimed at dealing with this economic and social crisis and the central premise will be to protect the most vulnerable population, understanding the budget restrictions, and restoring the conditions to stop the fall in the activity.

As for the economic team that will accompany him in the Ministry of Economy, it will be composed of the Secretary of the Treasury, Raúl Rigo; the Secretary of Finance, Diego Bastourre; the Secretary of Economic Policy, Haroldo Montagu; and the Secretary of Tax Policy, Roberto Arias. The Director of the International Relations Unit, Maia Colodenco, will also be part of the economic team. Meanwhile, Sergio Chodos will be proposed as Director of the Southern Cone before the International Monetary Fund.

“I am very happy to work with this team because they are professionals with great technical capacities, with outstanding trajectories and a deep knowledge of the public sector. Everyone shares this premise of protecting what is ours, what is public, what we have: representing the Republic, ” Mr. Minister said.