Brazil & Southern Cone - October 2007 (ISSN 1471-4431

The high profile campaign efforts of presidential candidate Cristina Fernández de Kirchner abroad, in an attempt to show a candidate committed to restoring Argentina's international financial profile, contrast with a recent deterioration in relations between Argentina and the international finance community.

A recent bout of mudslinging between the Argentina government and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) took place after the outgoing head of the institution, Rodrigo de Rato, said on 15 October that inflation was a "concern" in Argentina and that the government should focus on a monetary policy which "concentrated more on the stability of prices than on the exchange rate". 

Economy minister Miguel Peirano hit back at Rato's statements dismissing them as a reflection of the IMF's "negative past" and the traditional IMF desire to meddle in Argentina's economic policies. In a meeting of the G-24 emerging market nations he also questioned the legitimacy of the IMF and accused the organisation of having double standards. This was in reference to its failure to foresee the collapse of the US subprime mortgage market. He stated that "the fund should put at least as much zeal into evaluating vulnerabilities in advanced economies as it does in emerging markets".

Cristina also took a swipe at the IMF in a campaign advertisement marking a further renewal of criticisms of the multilateral, in a country where the fund is widely unpopular. 

Last year the Kirchner government paid the $9.5 billion owed to the IMF, in order to free Argentina from the fund's influence over the country's economic policy. The fund's policies are widely blamed for triggering Argentina's 2001-02 economic crisis, when the country defaulted on its debt and devalued the peso currency. 

Nevertheless, the local press emphasises that the appointment of French former finance minister, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, whose candidacy was supported by Argentina, could mark a turning point in relations with the IMF, especially given the eagerness of Argentina to progress in negotiations with the Club de Paris of creditor nations. Argentina owes the Club de Paris an approximate $6.3 billion.

• Corruption investigation postponed
  On 18 October, the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) revealed that their mission to investigate corruption was scheduled to visit Argentina from 24-28 September but the government put the trip back until 10-14 December. The government claims that it did so because the officials with whom the OECD needed to consult were not present in September, but critics of Kirchner have alleged that Kirchner was simply unwilling to allow the team to visit before the 28 October presidential election.