Top Argentina lawmaker is appointed economy ‘super minister’

Argentina’s government has appointed the head of the country’s lower house of Congress, Sergio Massa, as the new economy “super minister”, as Buenos Aires attempts to surmount an economic crisis marked by soaring inflation.Massa’s appointment brings together three ministries under his supervision: economy, development and agriculture.Some 37% of Argentina’s population of 45mn live in poverty, while inflation for the first half of the year topped 36%.Massa, a 50-year-old attorney by training who has been in politics for years, will take over his new post once he has properly stepped down from his seat in Congress, the office of President Alberto Fernandez said in a statement.The previous economy minister Silvina Batakis, who had just returned from Washington where she held talks at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over Argentina’s debt, will shift to the state-owned bank Banco Nacion.Argentina, which earlier this year renegotiated repayments on a $44bn loan with the IMF, has committed to reducing its public deficit from 3% in 2021 to 0.9% by 2024.On Thursday, thousands of people demonstrated in Buenos Aires for a “universal salary” worth 67,000 pesos (around $490 at the official exchange rate), which amounts to the cost of two basic food baskets, for the country’s lowest earners.“Poverty has taken control of the country,” Monica Sulle, a leader of the Socialist Workers’ Movement (MST), told AFP.“This unstoppable inflation is taking a seat at the family dinner table at every level of society, but in the poorest sectors, it’s a catastrophe,” said Vilma Ripoli, a leader of the Workers’ Leftist Front (FIT).Financial analysts offered mixed takes on the president’s attempt to turn the page on weeks of economic turmoil, citing persistent imbalances fuelled by raging consumer prices plus an exchange rate gap between the parallel and tightly controlled official rate, which has climbed above 150% this month.“The policy response can well be characterised as a Band-Aid effort, lacking the required consistency and breadth to stabilize the economy,” JP Morgan said in a research memo after Massa’s appointment.It added that fresh economic stewardship must be able to better co-ordinate political support for sound fiscal policies.In what could be taken as a note of optimism, the bank’s Latin America market researchers noted that the incoming minister with a greatly expanded portfolio “may offer that co-ordination ability, amplified with political savviness”.