Martín Guzmán
Ministro Martín M. Guzmán.jpg
Minister of Economy
In office
10 December 2019 – 2 July 2022
PresidentAlberto Fernández
Preceded byHernán Lacunza (as Minister of the Treasury)
Succeeded bySilvina Batakis
Personal details
Born (1982-10-12) 12 October 1982
La Plata, Argentina
Political partyIndependent
Frente de Todos (2019–2022)
Alma materNational University of La Plata
Brown University (PhD)

Martín Maximiliano Guzmán (born 12 October 1982) is an Argentine economist, who served as Minister of Economy in the cabinet of President Alberto Fernández from December 2019 to July 2022.[1]

Early life and education

Martín Maximiliano Guzmán was born on 12 October 1982 in La Plata, Buenos Aires Province.[2] Guzmán studied at the National University of La Plata, where he graduated with a degree of Licenciate in Economics in 2005, then going on to receive a Master of Science in Economics in 2007.[3] In 2013 he earned a doctorate on Economics from Brown University.[4] His theoretical influences include Carlos Daniel Heymann and Joseph Stiglitz.[4]

Academics

At the Columbia Business School, Guzmán is an Associate Research Scholar at the Economics Division, director of Columbia University Initiative for Policy Dialogue's Debt Restructuring Program and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Globalization and Development, specializing on the fields of public debt, international macroeconomics and monetary economics.[5]

On 27 November 2021, Pope Francis named Guzmán a numbered member of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.[6]

Minister of Economy

Guzmán with Joseph Stiglitz, February 2020.

His first legislative initiative, the Social Solidarity and Productive Recovery Bill, was passed by Congress on 23 December.[7]

The bill included tax hikes on foreign currency purchases, agricultural exports, wealth, and car sales - as well as tax incentives for production. Amid the worst recession in nearly two decades, it provided a 180-day freeze on utility rates, bonuses for the nation's retirees and Universal Allocation per Child beneficiaries, and food cards to two million of Argentina's poorest families.

It also gave the president additional powers to renegotiate debt terms – with Argentina seeking to restructure its US$100 billion debt with private bondholders and US$45 billion borrowed by Mauricio Macri administration from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).[7]

The IMF reported that the COVID-19 crisis would plunge Argentina's GDP by 9.9%.[8] Unemployment jumped from 8.9% in late 2019 to 13.1% in the second quarter of 2020 (the highest since 2004),[9] at the height of the Covid-related lockdown - but eased steadily afterwards, to 7% by late 2021.[10]

On 4 August 2020, Guzmán reached an accord with the biggest creditors on terms for a restructuring of $65 billion in foreign bonds, after a breakthrough in talks that had at times looked close to collapse since the country's ninth debt default in May.[11] The country's public foreign debt, which had nearly doubled during the Macri administration, slimmed from $197 billion in late 2019 to $191 billion in late 2021.[12]

Under Guzmán, Argentina also refinanced a record, $45 billion IMF bailout debt inherited from the Macri administration[13] - and saw 10.4% growth in 2021 and 5.7% in January–April 2022, after three years of deep recession.[14] Inflation, however, remained stubbornly high - initially slowing from 54% in 2019 to 36% in 2020; but rising to over 60% by May 2022.[15]

On 2 July 2022, following depreciation of the peso and shortages of diesel fuel,[16] and amid pressure from the left wing of the governing coalition,[17] Guzmán resigned as Minister of Economy.

References

  1. ↑ "Alberto Fernández presentó a su gabinete de ministros y dijo que ya está negociando con el FMI". La Nación. 6 December 2019. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  2. ↑ "Ministerio de Economía - Ministro". argentina.gob.ar (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  3. ↑ Guzmán, Martín (10 December 2019). "Martín Guzman - CV" (PDF). Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  4. 1 2 Lammertyn, Marina (6 December 2019). "Martín Guzman: Argentine whiz-kid economist and acolyte of Stiglitz". Financial Post. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  5. ↑ "Martin M Guzman". Columbia Business School Directory. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  6. ↑ "Nomina di Membro Ordinario della Pontificia Accademia delle Scienze Sociali". Holy See Press Office (in Italian). Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  7. 1 2 "Fernández's economic emergency law wins approval in Senate". Buenos Aires Times. 23 December 2019.
  8. ↑ "IMF predicts Argentina's economy will slump 9.9% in 2020". Buenos Aires Time (Perfil). 25 June 2020. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  9. ↑ "Argentina unemployment rate hit 13.1% in second quarter". Reuters. 23 September 2020.
  10. ↑ "Mercado de trabajo. Tasas e indicadores socioeconómicos (EPH): Primer trimestre de 2022" (PDF). INDEC.
  11. ↑ "Argentina strikes debt agreement after restructuring breakthrough". Financial Times. 4 August 2020.
  12. ↑ "Balanza de pagos, posición de inversión internacional y deuda externa: Primer trimestre de 2022" (PDF). INDEC. p. 31.
  13. ↑ "Argentina Senate Approves Program to Refinance $44 Billion IMF Debt". Wall Street Journal. 17 March 2022.
  14. ↑ "Estimador mensual de actividad económica: Abril de 2022" (PDF). INDEC.
  15. ↑ "Índice de precios al consumidor (IPC): Mayo de 2022" (PDF). INDEC.
  16. ↑ "Argentine economy minister resigns amid peso, diesel woes". AP News. 2 July 2022.
  17. ↑ "Argentina Economy Minister Guzmán Resigns as Divisions Grow". Bloomberg. 2 July 2022.
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