Left to Right: Mrs. Christine Lagarde (Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund) and Eng. Mauricio Macri (President of Argentina)
On June 20, Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) promoted Argentina from the frontier to the emerging market, a decision that will allow the country to receive investments of some US$4.5 billion. The truth is that the world continues to accompany the political and economic course of Macri. The President is convinced that the storm has passed, and has indications for it: that same day, the IMF management formally approved a US$55 billion loan agreed with Argentina. Some US$15 billion will arrive immediately to support the Argentine peso.
Argentina had lost the quality of emerging market in 2009: since it came to power in December 2015, recovering that category was one of the main objectives of Macri, leading a policy of open economy. A year and a half ago, after the electoral triumph in the mid-term legislatures, the Government assumed the change of category in the MSCI.
The change of category is crucial for Argentina. It happens that there are large institutional investment groups that are prohibited by statute from investing in frontier markets. The estimate is that with the new category, Argentina will receive extra investments for up to US$4.5 billion. «Being emerging is going to give us access to cheaper capital and, therefore, more investment, more growth and more jobs for all Argentines,» Finance Minister Nicolás Dujovne wrote in his Twitter account.
