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News > Latin America

Argentina's Macri Fires Finance Minister over 'Disagreements'

  • Argentine Economic Minister Alfonso Prat-Gay speaks during a panel discussion at the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank Group, Oct. 6, 2016.

    Argentine Economic Minister Alfonso Prat-Gay speaks during a panel discussion at the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank Group, Oct. 6, 2016. | Photo: Reuters

Published 26 December 2016
Opinion

President Mauricio Macri asked the top official to resign as the two butted heads over economic policy.

Argentine Finance Minister Alfonso Prat-Gay will step down Monday, marking the first major departure in President Mauricio Macri's Cabinet since he took office a year ago.

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Macri asked the top official to resign following disagreements over economic policy, Cabinet Chief Marcos Peña told a press conference in Buenos Aires.

Peña added that the ministry will now be split into two, with Luis Caputo, who was finance secretary, heading the new Finance Ministry and Nicolas Dujovne overseeing the Treasury.

Prat-Gay was instrumental in lifting Argentina's currency controls and negotiating a deal with holdout creditors, two of the neoliberal Macri administration's main moves after taking office last December.

Macri's election ended more than a decade of progressive-nationalist government under Cristina Fernandez and her predecessor and husband, Nestor Kirchner.

Shortly after the elections, Macri outlined his economic strategy, which included plans to incentivize private investment, lift currency and capital controls, as well as eliminate agricultural export restrictions.

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Rumors about Prat-Gay's future had circulated in recent weeks after an income tax proposal crucial to the government's deficit reduction targets failed in Congress, forcing the government to renegotiate a new deal with the opposition.

Prat-Gay, a former JPMorgan currency strategist, allegedly submitted his resignation, arguing “he wasn’t comfortable,” in his post, local press reported in August, however, Macri did not accept the resignation.

During that time the now former minister had a dispute with the Central Bank President Federico Sturzenegger over inflation marks.

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