José Luis Machinea

José Luis Machinea (born 1946) is an Argentine economist. He was the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, from 10 December 2003 to 13 May 2008. [United Nations, Department of Public Information. [http://www.un.org/News/ossg/sg/stories/jose-luis_bio.asp The Biography of José Luis Machinea] .]

Machinea was the head of the Central Bank of Argentina between 1986 and 1989, under the presidency of Raúl Alfonsín. [Central Bank of the Argentine Republic. Former Presidents. [http://www.bcra.gov.ar/institucional/in080338.asp José L. Machinea] .] In the 1990s he worked in the private sector, as a consultant and in economic research organizations. He then served as Minister of Economy under the Fernando de la Rúa administration from December 1999 until February 2001, when he was replaced briefly by Ricardo López Murphy. In early 2001 he successfully negotiated an agreement with the International Monetary Fund to refinance and exchange Argentine debt bonds for 39.7 billion USD, avoiding a default and providing fresh funds. In exchange, the Argentine government agreed to implement measures requested by the IMF, which included reducing future pensions and deregulation of labour unions' work insurance. [Página/12, 13 January 2001. [http://www.pagina12.com.ar/2001/01-01/01-01-13/pag11.htm "Con coraza, la vida es otra cosa"] .]

This operation was informally called the "Blindaje" (that is, "the Armour") because it was intended to protect Argentina from the effects of the ongoing economic crisis, but ultimately failed, as De la Rúa resigned in December 2001 and Argentina defaulted on its debt in early 2002.

With regards to the growth of the Argentine economy after the beginning of the recovery (around 9% annually since 2004), Machinea has called it "spectacular", but he has expressed doubts about the use of price controls (implemented by the administration of Néstor Kirchner) to control inflation in the long run. He has also stated that Argentina is already past the recovery phase, with current challenges being the attraction of investments to sustain a moderate growth over time. [Télam news agency, 2 November 2006. [http://www.telam.com.ar/vernota.php?tipo=N&idPub=42170&id=110824&dis=1&sec=1 "Machinea calificó de “espectacular” el crecimiento económico"] .]

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