TEHRAN, November 26 - Argentina had hoped to show off its newly market-friendly economy to the world when the G-20 group of the world's top economies begins its first South American summit this week. Instead it's looking for help to avoid an all-out crisis.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - The two-day meeting that starts Friday is meant to focus on development, infrastructure and food security, but most of the talk on the sidelines is expected to center on trade disputes between the U.S. and China and the signing of the new North American free trade deal.
Argentina, a darling of Wall Street just a year ago, finds itself hosting the summit while scrambling for international aid to fend off a collapse.
"The original vision for Argentina was to use the G-20 to showcase that it had transformed the economy, and instead it welcomes world leaders to the economic wreckage. So, the timing is inconvenient, to say the least," said Benjamin Gedan, an Argentina expert at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
"Instead of a showcase, the G-20 is an opportunity to plead for international support."
Argentina was forced to obtain a record $56 billion credit line from the International Monetary Fund recently following a currency crisis and spiraling inflation. The peso has depreciated by more than half this year and consumer prices are estimated to have risen by about 45 percent. Growing frustration over massive layoffs and poverty has also stoked protests that are expected to re-ignite during the summit.
Still, President Mauricio Macri will want to show improvements in international relations during his three years in office after more than a decade of protectionist policies under the populist governments of President Cristina Fernandez and her late husband and predecessor, Nestor Kirchner.
Even with the economy in turmoil, Macri has resolved a longstanding legal dispute with creditors that gave Argentina renewed access to global credit markets for the first time a default in 2001-2002. He has also improved relations with the U.S. after years of animosity under his predecessors, keeping friendly ties both with U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
"Argentina is in a critical moment when it comes to international debt and it will seize on this moment to confirm international support from other G-20 countries" that are leading creditors of the IMF, said Julio Burdman, a Buenos Aires-based political analyst and pollster.
Source: AP
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