Name? Martin Guzman
Westphalian identity? Argentinian
Age? 37
Why is he in the news? As Argentina’s economic minister (wow what a job…), Guzman has repeatedly stated that the country cannot pay its public debts until given time to revive its economy. As a result, Argentina has opted to delay $10 billion local-law debt repayments.
Why do we care? Well, this isn’t the first time Argentina has delayed or frozen payments so such a delay in payment is not entirely news to us. What is interesting, however, is how the rest of the world will react. Given the current crisis, how many other countries will have to follow in Argentina’s footsteps? Will these delays be the first of many or just another quarter in Argentina?
Why should you care? Given that the majority of our readers attend a top (private) university and many are from Europe and North America, the majority of you live in countries where governments are actively working to give out money to those most impacted by the viral challenge. Not everyone has this privilege. Many governments are struggling to cover their citizen’s needs in a normal year, not to mention during 2020.
Who else cares? Kristalina Georgieva, aka the Queen of the IMF. As the IMF attempts to help countries most affected financially by the viral challenge, the fund needs all the money it can get. Argentina deciding to delay payments with the hope of a revived economy, under these circumstances, is not exactly the news Georgieva wants to hear on her Monday morning…
Any further comments? Money is just faith in a system, but how much faith are we all willing to have?
