Buenos Aires 2015 Blog: Central Bank Head Alejandro Vanoli on Development through Inclusion

By
Carin Zissis

The Argentine central bank president gave an overview of the Argentine economy's strengths in the context of decelerating global growth.

Argentine Central Bank President Alejandro Vanoli, who said Argentina’s economy is growing at a rate of almost 4 percent, set the stage for his presentation by noting the deceleration of economic growth worldwide, marked by greater financial volatility, exchange rate shifts, and commodity price drops. But he contended that Argentina’s external sector is solid due to an ongoing surplus, and that economic recovery is speeding up thanks to the construction and service sectors. He went on to note that a decreasing external demand was compensated by internal demand, linked to stability in the labor market and social inclusion policies, and he emphasized a deceleration in inflation rates.

The Central Bank head went on to highlight strengths of the Argentine economy, including the growth of the middle class; the country’s debt reduction, with external debt falling 26 percent in 12 years; growing international reserves; a decrease in interest rates for personal loans; moves by the Central Bank to increase financial transparency both locally and internationally; more diversified exports; and growth in the technology sector.

Vanoli concluded with an overview of mid- and long-term challenges and solutions in the areas of government planning versus markets, offer and demand, growth versus distribution, and debt versus financial self sufficiency.

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