Resignation letter from Carlos Hourbeigt to the position of director of the Central Bank, addressed to President Alberto Fernández, confirms that the changes announced this Thursday in the second lines of the monetary authority and the Ministry of Economy They arose from the political intention of sending a message to Roberto Lavagna and they do not obey the management’s requirements.
In his letter to the president, Hourbeigt made it clear why he left office: “The understanding of the political needs of the Government of the Nation motivates my resignation in this hour in which I wish God to enlighten him so that his decisions contribute to improving the quality of life of Argentines ”.
Before that final message, the now former director reviewed his activity within the Central’s board of directors, especially linked to the development of means of payment and the “Transfers 3.0” plan, with which the government plans to expand payments with QR code and advance in financial inclusion “. “These are palpable achievements that you can count as your own,”Hourbeigt told the President in his resignation letter.
Hourbeigt is an extremely trusted official of Lavagna, to the point that he was one of the mainstays of the 2019 electoral campaign in which the former Kirchnerist Minister of Economy was a candidate for president by Federal Consensus. With Marco Lavagna, head of Indec, were the two officials of that sector who were located within the government at the beginning of the management of Alberto Fernandez.
Today it was decided to replace it with Diego Bastourre, until today Secretary of Finance and very close to the Minister of Economy, Martin Guzman. In this way, the move would have a double effect: breaking spears with Lavagna and, at the same time, that the Ministry of Economy has a greater influence on the movements of the Central.
Hourbeigt’s departure from office was resolved in a meeting he held with the Chief of Staff, Santiago Cafiero, in the Casa Rosada. As he could know Infobae, the meeting was conducted in cordial terms, to the point that the breakdown of the government with the Lavagnism did not prevent Cafiero from offering the resigning official to occupy a new position within the Government. Hourbeigt declined the offer, due to the political context surrounding his departure. The same cordiality appeared in the letter to thank “the predisposition and professionalism” of the head of the BCRA, Miguel Pesce.
In his letter, Hourbeigt highlighted that in the year he was a member of the BCRA board, he chaired the Operations and Payment Methods Commission, carried out “The Transfers 3.0 initiative, which was the result of dialogue, consensus and a process of dynamic interaction between the diverse and dissimilar actors of the private sector (Banks, Fintech and infrastructures of the world of payments) and the BCRA”.
The government’s move would have a double effect: breaking spears with Lavagna and, at the same time, that the Ministry of Economy has a greater influence on the movements of the Central
“3.0 transfers Not only will it benefit Argentines when they use their means of payment and with lower costs for businesses, but it will also result in more competition, investment and private employment in this dynamic sector, “the letter added.
The displacement of the Lavagnista official can be read as a correlate of the harsh criticisms that the former minister had made of the economic management in the last days of 2020. In a public letter, the former presidential candidate had questioned “the populist and adjustment policies that, together with the pandemic, led to the current socioeconomic situation, with high rates of poverty and destitution.”
Lavagna had also stated that “the priority must be the creation of private work, to get out of stagnation by prioritizing private investment and the search for productivity and to incorporate the majority who are today excluded from modern forms of employment.”
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