Se dijo en el fondo

Transcript of a Press Briefing by Caroline Atkinson, Director, External Relations, IMF
Washington, D.C.
Thursday, October 22, 2009

QUESTIONER: It is said in Argentina that perhaps [IMF Western Hemisphere Department Director Nicolas] Eyzaguirre is going to stop by, profiting from his trip to Latin America for the Outlook. I wanted to know if this is true, if this can happen, if he could stop by Argentina.

And the second is: As you know the Argentina government wants an Article IV but with some conditions, like a low profile mission and non-recommendation, non-political recommendation. I wanted to know if this is technically possible because finally, generally, after a mission of an Article IV you have a report that goes to the Board, and this traditionally has always recommendations, that they are always in a way economic, dealing with economic policy.

MS. ATKINSON: On the first, I have no information for you on that, as to whether Mr. Eyzaguirre would make a stop. I know that he was recently, as I’m sure you’re obviously aware, he and [IMF Reseach Director] Mr. [Olivier] Blanchard were both fairly recently in Argentina.

On the second, I think that our Article IV consultation processes are fairly clear. As you say, there is normally a report to our Executive Board that reports both the views of the authorities and the views of the staff and the discussions between them, and typically includes a staff appraisal. So that would be a normal Article IV consultation.

You made a point about politics. We don’t discuss political issues. So we’re focused on economic and technical issues.

QUESTIONER: It’s difficult to put a limit between politics and economic policies, and generally, the Article VI has some recommendation of economic policies. For example, if there is too much inflation, you can say that we need to cut the inflation. So these kinds of policies are what I’m referring to, not political issues.

MS. ATKINSON: Well, as you say, Article IV consultations, the whole point of an Article IV consultation is to discuss economic policies, to analyze the economy.

QUESTIONER: I’m sorry, I’m coming back to Argentina, but I want to clarify. You know there were so many things said after Istanbul in my country, that I would like at least to put a little bit of order.

So I wanted to know, has the Argentinean government sent a letter asking for a mission, or this is not done yet?

Second is in the frame of the G-20. Our President has signed the final declaration of the G-20, and this includes the monitoring of the economies of all the country members. So what kind of obligation will have Argentina in that frame?

MS. ATKINSON: Just to answer the second question first, the framework for this assessment has not yet been agreed amongst the G-20 members. So it’s certainly premature for -- I mean they haven’t settled yet quite how that will be done. They have asked the Fund to be involved in that assessment, and we have obviously, and the IMFC has also, supported that. So, obviously, we will be working on that in coming months and beyond, to support the G-20.

On your first question, we have no specific plans at the present for an Article IV consultation.

¿Cómo?