The
comprehensive mess in Argentina today almost defies
belief. At the turn of the year, the financial and
economic collapse was near total, with banks closed,
the state of the currency (and even its very existence)
in some doubt, rapidly increasing unemployment, decline
in almost all public services and shortages of liquidity
that threatened access to basic food and necessary
goods for survival for much of the population.
The ineptitude of the previous government of President
Fernando de la Rua and Economy Minister Domingo Cavallo,
and the attempt to impose further material punishment
on a society that has been so imposed upon for nearly
four years led to widespread public protests and riots
that led to the death of 25 people and have forced
a change of government. But even that government,
which briefly announced that it would take measures
to orient economic policy towards Argentine people
rather than to external finance, was short-lived,
with the new President surviving only a few days.
At the time of writing, the fourth President in 10
days has been sworn in, and his new government has
effectively agreed to all the conditions for devaluation
and fiscal compression that the IMF was insisting
on. Of course, the economic and political situation
is still extremely uncertain and fluid.
How did all this happen to the second largest economy
in Latin America, which was also its richest until
quite recently? What were the macroeconomic policies
and processes that have led to such extreme calamity?
And what does all this imply for other countries desperate
to enter or remain in the uncertain world of emerging
markets?
The unfolding economic catastrophe in Argentina provides
a sharp, if alarming, illustration of the risks inherent
in a developing country’s exposure to international
capital flows and the difficulties in maintaining
a stable exchange rate in such conditions. This article
examines the "convertibility" regime which
fixed the Argentine peso to the US dollar, consider
the effects on real economic activity over the 1990s
and discuss the processes leading up to the current
extreme crisis.
Among the important issues that arise with reference
to the Argentine debacle are the role played by dependence
upon foreign capital flows, the nature of the fixed
exchange rate regime, and the associated deflationary
macroeconomic policies that were practised over this
period. In what follows, we first describe the background
and the various elements of this crisis before considering
its implications for policy in other developing countries.
The background
Argentina is no stranger to external debt crises –
indeed the economy has been on the verge of default
at least six times since the early 19th century, which
must make it one of the countries most practised in
financial instability. The last time that such default
seemed possible was in 1982, at the peak of the Latin
American debt crisis, when Mexico and Brazil were
also similarly afflicted, although for different reasons.
The build-up of external debt over the 1970s was closely
associated with the military regime of the dictator
General Videla, who ruled Argentina between 1978 and
1983. In this period the external debt of the country
increased from $8 billion to $ 43 billion.
Ordinary workers saw very little of the benefits from
the expenditure based on such debt – in fact,
the share of wages in national income fell over this
period from 43 per cent to 22 per cent. The Argentine
Tribunal which enquired into this debt blamed not
only Videla but the close economic nexus around him,
especially the then Governor of the Central Bank,
Domingo Cavallo.
The Report claimed that "The Argentine Central
Bank was able to make discretionary investments with
American banks, this without securing the agreement
of the Minister of the Economy, but relying on the
generous help of the American Federal Reserve. The
arrangement between these different lead players was
such that the bank loans granted to Argentina were
never to come under that country's control, but were
to be directly diverted by the banks to tax havens
in the name of front- companies. So the debt did not
benefit the local people but rather the dictatorial
regime and the banks of the North which provided important
technical financial support for the passage."
[Report of Judicial Inquiry into Argentine Debt]
The unfolding of that debt crisis of the 1980s meant
that the country had to submit to the ministrations
and conditions imposed by the IMF, which has been
almost continuously involved with policy making and
periodic bailouts in Argentina since then. While the
1980s became a "lost decade" in terms of
real economic activity, wages and employment, inflation
continued to spiral over the period, averaging more
than 400 per cent per annum over the decade.
The 'convertibility' regime
In 1991, the then President Carlos Menem (who,
incidentally, was until recently being held in custody
for international arms trafficking during 1991
and 1995) brought in Domingo Cavallo as Super Economy
Minister, largely because of his close association
with financial leaders. Cavallo then introduced the
currency board system, under which the peso was fixed
to the US dollar at a one-to-one rate.
Under these arrangements - known locally as "convertibility"
- the central bank must hold one dollar in reserves
for every peso in circulation. This stops the central
bank from printing money and imposes very severe monetary
discipline, in effect destroying the possibility of
any independent monetary policy. In Argentina, the
system has been slightly modified to give the bank
more flexibility. Up to one-third of the peso monetary
base - pesos in circulation plus peso bank accounts
- can be backed by holdings of government bonds. Nevertheless
it remains an extremely restrictive system.
Such a system obviously also constrains fiscal policy
as well, and puts limits on government expenditure
that cannot be easily financed through taxation or
borrowing. In the early 1990s the problem was "solved"
by widespread and rapid privatisation of key assets
and reduction of public services through "downsizing".
This also meant an inflow of foreign capital to buy
up the cheap public assets that were on sale. However,
as would have been obvious to those with a slightly
longer time horizon, such a policy cannot be sustained
once all the attractive public assets have been disposed
of and public expenditure has been reduced to minimal
levels.
It also meant that the government could not spend
to lift the economy out of recession once private
sector enthusiasm paled, and the restrictive monetary
policy combined with this control of public expenditure
to create a significant downturn in economic activity
by the second half of the 1990s.
Thus, while the overall picture of the 1990s shows
an average growth rate of 4.2 per cent per annum as
compared with the annual average decline of 0.7 per
cent over the 1980s (Chart 1), this hides an important
trend over the decade. As evident from Chart 2, the
rate of growth of real GDP faltered in the middle
of the decade, and from 1998 the economy has been
in recession which has become especially serious over
the past two years.
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Effects of macroeconomic
policy over the 1990s
It is true that the convertibility regime was
successful – many would say too successful – in curbing
inflation. The rate of inflation (Chart 3) came down
from the annual average of nearly 600 per cent in the
late 1980s to an average of zero inflation in the second
half of the 1990s. But, as Chart 4 shows, this has
actually turned into deflation over the past three
years, with prices estimated to be falling by around 1.6
per cent over 2001. This deflation has been associated
with the real economic downturn as well.
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The link to the US dollar –
incidentally in a period when the dollar was also
appreciating in world markets – meant an appreciation of
the real exchange rate which the Argentine authorities
were powerless to prevent. Chart 5 suggests that the
real effective exchange rate facing importers
appreciated by around 23 per cent between 1991 and 2000,
which is quite a significant change. This made it more
difficult to export goods and made imports cheaper,
thereby substituting for domestic production (especially
employment-intensive small-scale production).
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The consequences were apparent in
the trade patterns. It can be seen from Chart 6 that
while the share of imports in GDP nearly tripled over
the 1990s, from 4.8 per cent to 13.5 per cent, the share
of exports increased only marginally from 10 per cent to
12 per cent. This also meant that the trade balance,
which had earlier been positive, turned negative by the
end of the decade.
It is not surprising then to find (from Chart 7) that
investment activity slackened dramatically over this
period. Not only did the fiscal stimulus to investment
decline, but the monetary stringency and the movement of
the real exchange rate combined to reduce the rate of
capital formation. This was not only highly unstable
especially in the latter part of the 1990s, but actually
turned negative over several years in the recent past.
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As we have seen, there were severe
limits on fiscal expansion as a means out of the
stagnation or recession. Some analysts have blamed
fiscal profligacy for the current severity of the debt
problem, but nothing could be further form the truth.
Far from engaging in irresponsible expenditure, the
government instead committed itself to what has been
described as "reckless rectitude", persisting in
spending cuts which have already almost destroyed the
public education and health systems, and drastically
reduced the availability of most other public services.
In fact, as can be observed from Chart 8, the fiscal
deficit remained well under 2 per cent of GDP over most
of the decade (and was even surplus in one year) which
is not only less than most other developing countries
but also less than the European Union and OECD averages.
The only reason it increased subsequently, and is now
estimated to be around 3.5 per cent of GDP, is not
because of increased public expenditure but because of
sharply reduced tax collections as the economy has
contracted. The tax revenues until November 2001 were
estimated to be 25 per cent below their level of the
previous year.
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Inability to raise tax revenues
because of declining economic activity meant that the
government was forced to undertake expensive borrowing
to finance whatever deficits it did manage to run, and
this debt was contracted on increasingly onerous terms.
Chart 9 indicates how the external debt more than
doubled over the decade to reach $155 billion at the
present time. Much of this was simply earlier debt that
was rolled over at higher interest rates. A feature of
the convertibility regime was that even a lot of the
domestic public debt – payable to Argentine resident
savers - was contracted in dollars.
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Interestingly, all this
self-imposed economic pain did not lead to a huge
increase in foreign resource inflows, despite Argentina
being officially declared to be a "model economy" by the
IMF and private financial analysts in the mid 1990s. It
would be evident from Chart 10 that the net resource
flows (that is net capital flows minus outflows of
investment income such as profits and interest) were
relatively meagre over the 1990s. This was not only
because the net capital inflows themselves were both low
and volatile (because of substantial outflows by
residents) but because of the growing burden of
investment income payments.
Chart 11 gives some idea of how much these latter
payments have come to matter for Argentina. By the end
of the decade, interest payments alone were as much or
slightly more than the total value of exports, while
total investment income outflows were substantially
greater. Of course, this also suggests why default could
even be a feasible option for the economy now, when
interest payments alone have come to dominate over
export receipts.
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Inevitably, the economic decline
has been reflected in rates of employment generation.
Chart 13 shows how rates of urban employment (as per
cent of population) first were stagnant and then
declined over the 1990s, while rates of open
unemployment have ballooned from 6.5 per cent at the
beginning of the decade to nearly 20 per cent at
present. Even this hides the true extent of job loss,
because studies indicate that there has been a
substantial move from regular to more casual and
precarious forms of employment including part-time work.
Wage incomes have been doubly affected: the average wage
in real terms is now worth half of its 1974 value.
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Associated with all this there have
been increases in poverty. In Argentina, data are
collected on both indigence (the people with incomes
insufficient to ensure consumption according to minimum
nutritional norms) and poverty (which also includes
along with food, a complementary set of goods and
services such as clothing, transport, education and
health). As can be seen from Chart 14, both indices have
increased over the 1990s, but the increase in indigence
has been especially sharp.
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The present impasse
Obviously, an economy with the features described
above was heading for trouble in any case. But the
severity of the current crisis reflects other features
as well. The proximate cause of the current financial
crisis was the refusal of the IMF to make a payment of
$1.26bn due in the middle of December because of
Argentina's deteriorating accounts and its refusal to
consider a devaluation. It is interesting that the IMF
took this stand : after all, it was the IMF which first
championed and then supported the highly restrictive
macroeconomic austerity measures Argentina undertook to
support the Currency Board, and praised the
anti-inflationary bias.
This immediately put the government’s ability to
service its huge debt in jeopardy. In response the
Government imposed drastic measures. Already, for more
than a year, Argentina had depended on local banks and
pension to finance government spending and meet payments
on its debt. After the IMF announcement, the government
took control of $3.5bn in private pension assets to pay
bills. In mid-December, $900 million interest on foreign
debt was paid using the money confiscated from private
pension funds and by pressurising domestic banks to roll
over Treasury bills.
By the end of the year, it has been estimated that
$12 billion would have been paid to foreign creditors,
even as domestic capital has been fleeing the country.
The insistence on avoiding a technical default thus
meant a clear preference for the interests of foreign
investors over the domestic population. It is
interesting that this persisted even though the
financial markets themselves discounted the debt :
Argentine bonds in December were trading at 30 per cent
higher spreads than US Treasury Bonds, suggesting that
they were seen as near-impossibly risky.
There were new banking and exchange restrictions as
well. Bank account-holders were limited to withdrawing
$250 a week in cash. Any amount above that would have to
be spent by cheque, credit card or debit card. In
addition, Argentines were allowed to take no more than
$1,000 in cash abroad. Companies would have to obtain
official clearance to make foreign payments above that
amount.
These measures almost brought to a standstill the
informal economy where increasing numbers of Argentines,
since this was heavily cash dependent. And this meant
further job loss and firm closures. Cavallo’s last plan
was to try and balance the budget for next year by
cutting spending by $9.2 billion (that is by one-fifth
of the current level) and imposing new taxed for more
than $4 billion. This would obviously mean even lost
jobs, unpaid pensions, and further cuts in basic
services.
There was violent public reaction to these measures,
which involved huge demonstrations and even riots, and
which culminated in the eviction of the government of
Fernando de la Rua and Economy Minister Domingo Cavallo.
However, the basic economic problems are far from
solved.
There are various alternative strategies to deal
with the current mess. One is to stick to the currency
peg and even enforce it through complete dollarisation,
which would involve even more of the same economic
treatment as before. Another, which has been suggested
by some Argentines, would be to devalue and then
dollarise, since there is now no faith in the Argentine
currency. A third alternative, which would entail at
least a partial of temporary default at the very
minimum, would be to convert all debt into peso debt.
The question then would be whether to allow the peso to
float freely (which would necessarily entail a big and
possibly rapid devaluation) which could create huge
instability, or try and monitor the level by
administering the exchange rate.
None of these options is particularly attractive for
ordinary Argentine people, since all of them would imply
some additional economic pain. Dollarisation is
obviously the worst option, since it imposes even
greater austerity on an economy that is already reeling.
In any case, it does not ensure future stability. Even
if it is argued that in future the economy would avoid
financial meltdown, a fiscal collapse is still quite
feasible under dollarisation.
Of course, there were already ways of working around
the convertibility regime. Several cash-strapped
provinces had begun to pay their workers in bonds that
could be used to buy goods and act as quasi-currencies.
Some have suggested that these could be expanded to
become a third, floating currency that would inject
liquidity into the economy and slowly replace the peso.
However, the IMF already insisting that such scrip is
accounted as part of the fiscal deficit.
Devaluation – or allowing the currency to float -has
the problem that it is not clear whether the peso would
then go into free fall, in the manner of the Turkish
lira a few months ago, creating even more instability
and completely wrecking the financial system. Also,
since so much of the internal debt is also denominated
in dollars, working out ways of dealing with this that
also preserve the value of pensions and other payments
to the poor would be a problem.
While it is clear that none of the alternatives
mentioned above are complete solutions, the very
severity of the Argentine problem may in some ways make
a more lasting solution more possible. Very few
economies in the world today would dare to institute
sweeping exchange controls and limits on capital flows,
nor would many dare to fix the value of the currency. In
Argentina at the present time, all of these are in
place. It is even possible for a government that is
sufficiently daring – and sufficiently concerned for the
welfare of its own citizenry – to attempt to use these
to its own advantage.
During the December crisis a range of financial and
currency restrictions were imposed on Argentines. While
these measures did not resolve the crisis, they almost
brought to a standstill the informal economy where
increasing numbers of Argentines. The IMF style measures
which were then proposed meant further job loss and
economic distress. There was violent public reaction to
these measures, with huge demonstrations and even riots,
which culminated in the eviction of the government of
Fernando de la Rua and Economy Minister Domingo Cavallo.
However, the basic economic problems are far from
solved.
The current government has just announced that it
will follow the IMF prescriptions by devaluing the
currency sharply and imposing further cuts on government
spending. While this will certainly mean economic
disaster for many ordinary Argentines, it is still not
clear that the peso will not go into free fall, in the
manner of the Turkish lira a few months ago, creating
even more instability and completely wrecking the
financial system. Also, since so much of the internal
debt is denominated in dollars, working out ways of
dealing with this that also preserve the value of
pensions and other payments to the poor is a problem.
But this policy was not by any means the only
alternative. In fact, the very severity of the Argentine
problem in some ways made a more lasting solution more
possible. Very few economies in the world today would
dare to institute sweeping exchange controls and limits
on capital flows, nor would many dare to fix the value
of the currency. In Argentina at the present time, all
of these are in place. It would even have been possible
for a government that is sufficiently daring – and
sufficiently concerned for the welfare of its own
citizenry – to attempt to use these to its own
advantage.
Thus, the new Argentine government could, in fact,
choose to peg the exchange rate at a certain level which
it thinks appropriate, and strictly enforce currency and
capital controls to ensure its stability while it deals
with the domestic crisis. It could use fiscal stimulus
to revive the economy – just as President Bush is trying
to do in the US – and allow this revival also to sort
out the fiscal problem over time. And it could go in for
huge injections of fresh capital to keep the banking
system afloat without which economic activity would
again splutter.
If the new government actually managed to do all
this and this proved to be both feasible and a way out
of the crisis, Argentina might actually become a model
for other developing countries to emulate. But at
present, the lesson from Argentina is very different.
What this entire experience highlights is the danger
of relying on open capital flows in any attempt to
achieve stable economic growth. It is not just that the
"unholy trinity" of fixed exchange rate regime, capital
flows, and public debt is unsustainable. It is also
that, with open capital flows, even a flexible exchange
rate regime does not necessarily ensure stability, and
can even involve more volatility depending on the
uncertain whims of international investors. So, it is
not TINA ("There Is No Alternative") but rather
ARGENTINA, which shows that this policy can only lead to
disaster.
MORE ON ARGENTINA
CRISIS
January 09, 2002.
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