Argentina said Thursday it will submit to its first International Monetary Fund (IMF) audit in nearly a decade, as President Mauricio Macri continued to hold talks with global business leaders, signalling the government may embrace austerity measures like massive spending cuts.
The country will open its books to the IMF for Article IV consultation, a process that involves the international body issuing policy advice to the government in Buenos Aires.
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“We want an Article IV because we have nothing to hide,” Finance Minister Alfonso Prat-Gay told Bloomberg.
Argentina hasn't been fully audited by the IMF since 2006.
The launch of IMF Article IV consultations is a major step by the Macri government towards imposing neoliberal reform.
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While the process has only just begun, Prat-Gay told Bloomberg he expected deep public spending cuts in 2017.
“It’s a pretty aggressive fiscal policy for next year,” he said.
Macri has vowed to roll back progressive economic policies of his left-leaning predecessor, Cristina Fernandez.
The president is currently attending business talks at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. During the forum, Macri is holding negotiations with corporate giants including Coca-Cola, Dow Chemical, Mitsubishi and Shell as well as world leaders like U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron.
Reunión con Muhtar Kent: Coca-Cola invertirá 1000 milones de dólares. https://t.co/gX4k3dIdTQ #Davos pic.twitter.com/UeZD5Z6ZDt
— Mauricio Macri (@mauriciomacri)
January 21, 2016
“Meeting with Muhtar Kent: Coca-Cola will invest US$1 billion.”
Macri’s arrival marked the first time an Argentine leader has attended the event in 13 years. With 2,500 of “the foremost political, business and other leaders of society” in attendance, Davos is held at an exclusive Alpine ski resort.
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