Summoning of ex-president Macri in cause of pact with IMF is asked in Argentina

Havana, April 20 (RHC) - The Argentinian Treasury Attorney has demanded that former President Mauricio Macri and government officials testify in the case of a debt contracted with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

According to newspaper Página 12, the body that represents the State in this process asked Judge María Eugenia Capuchetti to summon the former president (2015-2019), the former Minister of Finance, Nicolás Dujovne, and the former head of Finance and the Central Bank, Louis Caputo.

The Attorney General's Office supported this request in a report from the General Audit Office of the Nation (AGN), which concluded that the agreement was riddled with irregularities and requirements were omitted, such as consigning the loan in the Budget Law, approving the operation through Congress or by a decree of the Executive Branch.

According to the AGN, the agreement with the IMF in 2018 did not respect the criteria of the negotiation and execution process and led to the greater commitment of this country to the IMF after acquiring a loan of 56.7 billion dollars.

Said document indicates this happened in a context marked by financial stress caused, among other factors, by Caputo's decision to issue and place public securities in New York, United States, for a total of nine billion dollars, a figure unusual.

In addition, he described the operation as extraordinary due to the volume requested and the level of indebtedness with the IMF, never before registered.

The Commission specified that at the end of 2018 the public debt amounted to 332 thousand 192 million dollars and represented 85.2 percent of the Gross Domestic Product.

On the other hand, it indicated that there were violations of the norms and the financial management of the budgetary funds, and detailed that 20 percent of the issuance of direct debt in that year was authorized by Decrees of Necessity and Urgency. (Source: Prensa Latina)