​Coalition member Prat-Gay is replaced by Macri’s Men

ARGENTINA - In Brief 26 Dec 2016 by Esteban Fernandez Medrano

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Macri requested Prat-Gay´s resignation today’s. The chief of cabinet, Marcos Peña, also announced that the former Ministry of the Treasury and Finance (Ministerio de Hacienda & Finanzas) will be split in two. On one hand, there will be the Treasury or Ministry of Fiscal Affairs (Ministerio de Hacienda) and, on the other hand, the Ministry of Finance. Luis Caputo, the former financial Secretary, will head the new Ministry of Finance and will therefore continue, for all practical purposes, in his current role. The Treasury will be headed by the Pro-economist Nicolas Dujovne. The removal of Prat-Gay has been explained by the government as a consequence of the differences in the design or implementation of the economic program. It is worthwhile remembering that Prat Gay was originally the head economist of Lilita Carrió, one of the main center-left political allies of Macri in the last elections, together with the UCR headed by Ernesto Saenz. His replacement by two “Pro-Men”, such as Caputo and Dujovne, indicate an ideological tightening of the cabinet, at times when the economic/fiscal picture is far from rosy. Even though Dujovne is relatively new to the political arena, he participated in several Pro-aligned institutions, such as “Fundacion Pensar”. Prat-Gay has been reported, over the last months, to have had frictions with others members of the cabinet and, in particular, with Central Bank President Federico Sturzenegger, whom Prat Gay urged to lower interest rates faster. While the BCRA president hinted at the need to moderate the fiscal deficit. In fact, the sharp deterioration of the fiscal balance (as we pointed out in previous reports) did surly not help to stren...