Argentine President Alberto Fernandez criticized the “toxic and irresponsible loan†that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) provided to his predecessor’s government in a pre-recorded speech to the 76th UN General Assembly on Tuesday.
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During the speech, which lasted around 20 minutes, Fernandez also called for “a reconfiguration of the global financial architecture,†touched on the issue of the sovereignty of the Malvinas Falkland islands and pledged to tackle climate change.
The president noted that "Latin America and the Caribbean allocate 57% of their exports to the payment of external debt services.â€
He argued that Argentina "has been subjected to a toxic and irresponsible indebtedness" with the IMF, which approved a $57 billion loan to the government of former President Mauricio Macri.
Fernandez described the 2018 IMF loan to Argentina as the equivalent of "all that the agency disbursed in the year of the pandemic to 85 countries in the world.â€
He pointed to the lack of a multilateral framework for debt restructuring, which continues to be a "void in international financial governance.â€
He noted, however, that “change, although difficult, is not impossible. We celebrate the expansion and distribution of the Special Drawing Rights of the International Monetary Fund, an initiative which has opened the door to hope. What a year ago was unthinkable, today is a realityâ€
Fernandez proposed that “risk rating†form a part of the "international financial architecture reform agenda,†describing it as “key to rescue the principles of debt sustainability that have been discussed at the United Nations.â€
He also called for "a pact†to extend repayment terms with lower interest rates "to countries under circumstances of financial, health and ecological stress.â€
"We must promote sustainable financing systems that promote payment mechanisms for eco-systemic services and the concept of environmental debt. The debt-for-climate swap is another virtuous step that we must take,†he added. ■