Minister Sergio Massa during a working session at the G20 summit in Bali

(Special Envoy to Bangalore, India). Massa will use his three days at the G20 in India to call for a set of measures to offset the economic and financial consequences caused by the post-pandemic of COVID 19 and Russia’s war against Ukraine. The head of the Palacio de Hacienda argues that the conflict in Europe has affected the accounts of Argentina and call on central nations, the United States Treasury Department, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to set global policies to bolster the depleted accounts of poor and middle-income countries.

Massa’s presentation at the Bangalore summit sessions will aim to obtain subsidized loans from the most powerful members of the G20 and to convince the IMF of the need to lower its interest rates, reduce the percentage it receives for surcharges and to create – as soon as possible – a resilience fund aimed at facilitating the economic recovery of the weakest states which are paying for the consequences of the conflict between Moscow and Kiev.

In addition to focusing on the impact of the war in Europe, Massa will discuss Argentina’s financial situation with Jay Shambaugh, Undersecretary for International Affairs at the US Treasury Department. Shambaugh has worked with the Brookings Institute and knows how power works in Washington. He arrived in Bangalore with Janet Yellen, United States Treasury Secretary and top economic and financial adviser to Joseph Biden.

After the meeting with Shambaugh, the head of the Finance Palace will be received by Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of Finance of India. Massa and Sitharaman have a common agenda: the need to get the G20 to tackle without delay the social consequences of the war in Ukraine and to advance – in turn – agreements between Argentina and India linked to the technological development.

Afterwards, Massa will meet Wang Dongwei, Vice Minister of Finance of China, deepen bilateral cooperation and analyze new mechanisms to strengthen the Central Bank’s reserves. Wang is listened to by Xi Jinping, who controls all political power in China.

In Massa’s three meetings with representatives from the United States, India and China, the war situation in Europe will be present. The G20 decides by consensus and all its resolutions will need the support of the White House and the Kremlin, which cooled diplomatic relations after Biden’s visit to Kyiv and Putin’s immediate response in his latest speech in Moscow.

When Prime Minister Narenda Modi decided on the leitmotif of the G20 he is organizing in India, the Russian invasion of Ukraine had not yet begun: “One land, one family, one future”, maintains the official slogan that the current global tension has already turned into a geopolitical illusion..

The confrontation between Putin and Biden, which has reached unexpected levels in the past 72 hours, will impact the deliberations of the summit of economy ministers and will condition the approval of the proposals that are going to be debated here to mitigate the consequences of a war that has an open end.

Russia’s war against Ukraine has increased the price of fuel, fertilizers, freight and food, it increased inflation levels and affected access to international credit for countries considered poor and middle-income.

The most powerful nations have defined domestic measures to protect their own economies – for example, the United States has raised its reference rate – while the rest of the planet is suffering the consequences of a war that will change the global picture. and the balance of power between the United States United States, China, Russia and the European Union.

A reserved paper that Massa gave to Kristalina Georgieva in Bali to explain the costs paid by Argentina for the war that Putin is waging in Ukraine, There is already a second version that the Minister of the Economy will use during this G20 summit. On this occasion, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) promised Alberto Fernández y Massa that she would take care of the matter.

Nothing happened. And the conflict has already begun a new warlike and diplomatic phase which will have a major impact on Argentina’s accounts.

Alberto Fernández, Sergio Massa, Santiago Cafiero and Jorge Arguello during their meeting with Kristalina Georgieva and her staff at the IMF during the G20 summit in Bali
Alberto Fernández, Sergio Massa, Santiago Cafiero and Jorge Arguello during their meeting with Kristalina Georgieva and her staff at the IMF during the G20 summit in Bali

“There is an increase in the value of fuel imports of $3,757 million from the $1,999 million forecast at pre-war prices (and) the cost of freight for export has suffered an increase $1,800 million over previous estimates for the war. The final impact of the increase in international prices due to the conflict in Ukraine was estimated at 4.940 million dollars.supports the document that sets out the consequences of the war for Argentina and that the Minister of Economy will use in Bangalore.

Massa will describe in summit sessions and in his bilateral meetings this extraordinary cost caused by the war which affects the economic stability plan. Information manipulated by the Palais des Finances reinforces the arguments that the minister will deploy today in Bangalore:

“The fuel price shock generated an increase in energy subsidies transferred by the national state in 2022. According to the calculations made, it is expected that the transfer of subsidies will amount to 1,799,286 million dollars this year.consider the second version of the article which describes the cost of war for the country.

In this context, Massa will advance on the high rates applied by the IMF on the credits that the debtor countries must pay, he will insist on the reduction of the surcharges which are included in the payments of the debt contracted by Mauricio Macri and will demand the immediate creation of the Resilience Fund to mitigate the effects of the war in Ukraine.

Official delegations will use golf carts to access the Finance Ministers Summit in Bangalore
Official delegations will use golf carts to access the Finance Ministers Summit in Bangalore

Massa will arrive at the Marriot Hotel Convention Center with Central Bank President Miguel Pesce and INDEC Director Marco Lavagna, who is also Secretary of International Relations at the Ministry of Economy. It will be three intense days in Bangalore with an eye on Washington: In the capital of the United States, a delegation from the Palacio de Hacienda closes the technical review of the IMF to complete the financial year 2022 and negotiates the objectives to be achieved in 2023.

The proposal of Minister Massa on the cost of war it is a diplomatic fact which is not isolated from the roadmap agreed with the IMF and from the economic and financial agenda that India has designed for the G20. The two multilateral scenarios – the Fund and the G20 – generally deal with the global situation and the social crisis that dozens of countries are going through due to the pandemic and the invasion ordered by Moscow.

A week ago, Prime Minister Modi proposed to the G7 and the IMF a roadmap that coincides with Argentina’s position related to the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the conflict in Ukraine. Modi believes that India can occupy geopolitical spaces that China would lose by supporting Russia against the United States, and in this diplomatic move he will try to include poor and middle-income countries.

Alberto Fernández has already met Modi, as has Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero, and the affinity of strategic objectives can push the initiatives that Massa will present at the summit of economy ministers. If the conflict in Ukraine escalates after the discursive crossover between Biden and Putin, the most powerful nations and the multilateral organizations – the IMF and the World Bank – will have no alternative but to open their hands to collaborate with countries in financial and economic crisis.

In addition to participating in sessions related to the fight against tax evasion, money laundering and the international financial architecture, Massa will hold bilateral meetings with Gita Gopinath, IMF Deputy Managing Director Bruno the MayorMinister of the Economy of France, Fernando HaddadMinister of Economy of Brazil, and Axel Van TrotsenburgManaging Director of the World Bank.

Ministers Sergio Massa and Fernando Haddad during the signing of the bilateral agreements between Argentina and Brazil during an act at Casa Rosada
Ministers Sergio Massa and Fernando Haddad during the signing of the bilateral agreements between Argentina and Brazil during an act at Casa Rosada

Massa’s agenda in Bangalore crosses different countries, organizations and protagonists, but has a common dynamic: to strengthen the economic stability plan with the help of the IMF, regional partners, European powers and the White House. It is a complex task that will not stop in India.

Continue reading:

The letter to Cristina Kirchner from one of the senators who broke the Frente de Todos bloc: “The government has moved away from the priorities that our people demand”
Due to drought and increased spending on public works, the budget deficit in January topped $203 billion

Categorized in: