Former IMF director Cristine Lagarde and Mauricio Macri. Photo: Misión Verdad.
A report from the National Audit Office (AGN) of Argentina recently exposed the multiple breaches of regulations by the administration of former president Mauricio Macri government when it signed an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that committed the country to almost $57 billion of debt.
Among other details, the auditing body revealed that the Macri-era Finance Minister Nicolás Dujovne was not authorized to manage or approve public debt.
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According to the report published by Página 12, the specific processes for multilateral loans were ignored and the Central Bank of Argentina was not even consulted on the potential impact of the balance of payments, as required by Article 61 of Financial Administration Law 24,156.
The evidence was presented by the General Auditor Francisco Javier Fernández, who explained the main findings, highlighting the importance of this audit, the first to be carried out regarding an IMF loan.
The loan of $57 billion issued in 2018, known as the Stand By Loan—of which $44 billion was disbursed—is the largest loan in the history of Argentina and represented 127 times what the country was capable of repaying.
Other irregularities:
- There was a lack of adequate technical intervention to assess the costs and risks of the operation.
- The opinion of the Internal Audit Unit was missing.
- There was no timely and effective legal advice.
- The actions of the Ministry of Finance, which was specifically in charge of public debt management, were omitted.
- According to the evidence, there were many versions of the document. The final variant of the agreement could not be found.
- “The auditee made decisions without having adequate information regarding the cost and risk assumed, which impacted the solvency and sustainability of the public debt,” the agency stated.
In 2018, Argentina’s national debt amounted to over $332 billion, representing 85.2% of the country’s GDP, a proportion that, according to the agency, did not achieve its objective, as this level of debt could not restore market confidence nor reduce fiscal imbalances.
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/KW/SL
bla 5.24.23 10:30 EST
Misión Verdad
Misión Verdad is a Venezuelan investigative journalism website with a socialist perspective in defense of the Bolivarian Revolution
