Who is Silvina Aída Batakis, the new Minister of Economy of Argentina?

Martín Guzmán resigned from the position of Minister of Economy of Argentina 3:20 (CNN Spanish) — After the unexpected resignation of Martín Guzmán as Minister of Economy of Argentina, the government of President Alberto Fernández announced this Sunday that Silvina Aída Batakis will be his replacement in the midst of the political and economic crisis that the country is going through. Guzmán was part of Fernández’s cabinet since he took office, in December 2019, and was one of the most high-profile ministers, in charge of negotiating the debt contracted with the International Monterario Fund (IMF) in the previous administration (it was closed an agreement in March 2022). But the economic problems in Argentina, especially inflation and poverty, continued to put pressure on the government of the Frente de Todos coalition, whose greatest exponents are President Fernández and Vice President and former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, today facing an internal dispute. since the electoral defeat of the ruling party in the 2021 mid-term elections. Silvina Batakis, new Minister of Economy. (Telam photo). Batakis, born in 1968 in Río Grande, will take over, in this context, the Ministry of Economy after Guzmán’s resignation. But who exactly is the new minister? Government experience Waiting to be sworn in on Monday in the new position, Batakis is currently Secretary of Provinces in the Ministry of the Interior of Argentina, and president of the Federal Trust Fund for Regional Infrastructure (FFFIR). Between 2011 and 2015 she was Minister of Economy – the first time that a woman held this position – of the province of Buenos Aires during the mandate as Governor of Daniel Scioli, today Minister of Productive Development. “Batakis has a view of the economy connected to everyday life, with great articulation with the business world and work,” Scioli told CNN’s Marcelo Longobardi on Monday, after learning of her arrival at the Ministry of Economy. “She is a developmentalist and productivist woman in her conception of the economy.” According to her resume published by the FFFIR, Batakis has a degree in Economics and a master’s degree in Provincial and Municipal Public Finance from the National University of La Plata, and a master’s degree in Environmental Economics from the University of York. He also has a postgraduate degree in Environment, Economy and Society from the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (Flacso) and is pursuing a doctorate in Economic Development at the National University of Quilmes. He has received several scholarships in his career, among them the Chevening awarded by the UK government in 2001, according to the same source, and she has experience as a university professor Argentina: carrier protests hit economy in Tucumán 4:12 What is the current economic situation in Argentina? Batakis will take the reins of the Ministry of Economy amid strong pressures from inflation, poverty and economic activity, and in the cont ex of the agreement with the IMF, which part of the Front of All has criticized. The Fernández government had already taken office at the end of 2019 in the midst of an economic recession, and in 2020 she had to face the covid-19 pandemic, the confinements and its even more recessive effect on the economy. After a rebound in the economy in 2021, Argentina is now experiencing a sharp acceleration in inflation, which was already high in the country compared to its neighbors, and a lack of diesel fuel that has generated protests. According to the National Institute of Statistics and Census (Indec), in May Argentina registered a monthly inflation of 5.1%, which represents a year-on-year increase of 60.7%. It is one of the worst performances on the continent, along with Venezuela. National poverty reaches, meanwhile, 37.3% of the population, also according to INDEC, reaching 27.9% of households.