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Boudou defends use of reserves to pay debt
NOTIFE
December 30, 2009

Economy Minister said that it is an "intelligent measure" and that "it adds certainty" in the international market. U.S. holdouts ask for better conditions to accept new swap.

Economy Minister Amado Boudou on Wednesday before the bicameral commission that must report on the Decrees of Necessity and Urgency (DNU), defended the creation of the Bicentennial Fund to make debt payments. He said that "the use of the reserves is an intelligent measure" and that it also "adds certainty" to the international market.

Boudou also reiterated that "Argentina will not go to the (debt) swap under inferior conditions than those before" and argued that "by mid-January, the offer will be detailed."

The minister argued that "situations like the default generate uncertainty," for which he pointed out that the government had "taken measure to restore confidence." Also, he pointed out the work by the government in fiscal policies and those having to do with the inclusion of the pension system.

"This year we also have included those younger than 18 years old with assignation of children," he added. Soon after he left the Arturo Illia Room of the Senate, the members of the bicameral commission began to debate the decree on the creation of the Fund and decree 1953 that allows for the emission of bonds for US$15 billion for the debt swap.

In an interview with Critica Digital, Robert Raben, director of the group ATFA and representative of US holdouts showed himself as skeptical of the operation that is reopening in January. "The intention of the Argentine government to exclude some creditors will assuredly impede them from obtaining normalization with all of them," he argued. For the attorney and ex-Assistant Attorney General under Bill Clinton, it is "essential" that Argentina negotiate in "good faith."

By the DNUs

The bicameral commission didn't not agree on Wednesday on the designation of a chairman, but it was decided as an interim measure that the body will be led by two secretaries elected by the government block and the opposition. That responsibility fell to Deputy Diana Conti, of the Front for Victory, and Senator Luis Naidenoff, from the Radicals.

The government block demands that the chairmanship is necessary because it's seen as a governing commission. In turn, the opposing parties are threatening to dissolve the agreement in the legislative bodies, as happened with the withdrawal of the chairmanships and the compositions of the committees in the House on the 3rd of this month.

The chairmanship of that body carries the importance on its face for the analysis that the commission will have to make of the DNU signed by President Cristina Kirchner to create the Bicentennial Fund, which will allow the Executive to pay debt with Central Bank reserves.

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