Martín Guzmán

Martín Guzmán (born October 12, 1982) is an Argentine economist, currently serving as Minister of Economy in the Alberto Fernández administration.[1]

Martín Guzmán
Minister of Economy of Argentina
Incumbent
Assumed office 10 December 2019
President	Alberto Fernández
Preceded by	Hernán Lacunza
Personal details
Born	(1982-10-12) October 12, 1982 La Plata, Argentina
Nationality	Argentina
Alma mater	La Plata National University Brown University

First years

Guzmán studied at the National University of La Plata, where he graduated with a degree of Licenciate in Economics (2005) and a Master of Science in Economics (2007).[2] Also, he has a doctorate from Brown University (2013).[3] His theoretical influences include Carlos Daniel Heymann and Joseph Stiglitz.[4]

Academics

At the Columbia Business School, Guzmán is an Associate Research Scholar at the Economics Division, director of Columbia University Initiative for Policy Dialogue's Debt Restructuring Program and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Globalization and Development, specializing on the fields of public debt, international macroeconomics and monetary economics.[5]

Minister of Economy

Martín Guzmán with Joseph Stiglitz, February 2020.

His first legislative initiative, the Social Solidarity and Productive Recovery Bill, was passed by Congress on 23 December.[6] The bill includes tax hikes on foreign currency purchases, agricultural exports, wealth, and car sales - as well as tax incentives for production. Amid the worst recession in nearly two decades, it provides a 180-day freeze on utility rates, bonuses for the nation's retirees and Universal Allocation per Child beneficiaries, and food cards to two million of Argentina’s poorest families. It also gave the president additional powers to renegotiate debt terms – with Argentina seeking to restructure its US$100 billion debt with private bondholders and US$45 billion borrowed by Macri from the International Monetary Fund.[6]

Argentina defaulted again on May 22, 2020 by failing to pay $500 million on its due date to its creditors. Negotiations for the restructuring of $66 billion of its debt continue.[7]

The International Monetary Fund reported that the COVID-19 crisis would plunge Argentina's GDP by 9.9 percent, after the country's economy contracted by 5.4 percent in first quarter of 2020, with unemployment rising over 10.4 percent in the first three months of the year, before the lockdown started.[8][9][10]

On August 4, Guzmán reached an accord with the biggest creditors on terms for a restructuring of $65bn in foreign bonds, after a breakthrough in talks that had at times looked close to collapse since the country’s ninth debt default in May.[11]

References

1. "Alberto Fernández presentó a su gabinete de ministros y dijo que ya está negociando con el FMI". La Nación. December 6, 2019. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
2. Guzmán, Martín (December 10, 2019). "Martín Guzman - CV" (PDF). Retrieved 10 December 2019.
3. Lammertyn, Marina (December 6, 2019). "Martín Guzman: Argentine whiz-kid economist and acolyte of Stiglitz". Financial Post. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
4. Business, P. M. N. (2019-12-06). "Martín Guzman: Argentine whiz-kid economist and acolyte of Stiglitz | Financial Post". Retrieved 2020-04-23.
5. "Martin M Guzman". Columbia Business School Directory. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
6. "Fernández's economic emergency law wins approval in Senate". Buenos Aires Times. 23 December 2019.
7. Politi, Daniel (2020-05-22). "Argentina Tries to Escape Default as It Misses Bond Payment". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-05-24.
8. "IMF predicts Argentina's economy will slump 9.9% in 2020". Buenos Aires Time (Perfil). 25 June 2020. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
9. "INDEC: Economy contracted by 5.4% in first quarter of 2020". Buenos Aires Time (Perfil). 23 June 2020. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
10. "IMF predicts deeper global recession due to coronavirus pandemic". Reuters. 24 June 2020. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
11. "Argentina strikes debt agreement after restructuring breakthrough". Finantial Times. 4 August 2020.