The Secretary of Economic Policy and trusted man of Luis Caputo He took the field this week with an optimistic speech before businessmen from the financial sector, within the framework of an event organized by the rating agency. Fitch Ratingsand repeated the message in several forums: Argentina is experiencing a “beautiful”, “robust” structural change, practically “unlimited” in its potential. But in the same breath he recognized that that moment has not yet reached people’s pockets. A contradiction that did not go unnoticed.
“What is happening in Argentina is not a cyclical adjustment, it is not a policy change: it is a very profound change in the economic system“said Daza, comparing the local process with the transformations that countries such as Vietnam, Poland and Chilewhich led to long periods of growth. According to the official, Argentina is facing that same threshold, but with an advantage: “we are much richer than those countries“With that argument in hand, he projected a growth potential that he described as “practically unlimited” and predicted that the country will grow more than Chile and Poland in the coming years.
The scoreboard he presented was equally enthusiastic. He pointed out that the Central Bank has purchased more than US$10.2 billion so far this year and that, if the pace continues, the figure could climb to US$ 24,000 million before the end of December. He highlighted the recent improvement in Argentina’s credit rating and explained its concrete impact: in a recent tender, the Government placed ors$1.7 billiona sign that upgrades are beginning to open doors in the international market. He also rejected any bet on a devaluation: “The Argentine currency is going to become one of the strongest on the continent, not because of a government decision but because of the supply and demand of dollars.”
However, it was Daza himself who put the limit on so much euphoria. When talking about employment, he admitted what the majority of Argentines feel in their daily lives: “Employment has not grown in 15 years, salaries have not grown in 15 years, production has not grown in 15 years.” And although he said it in reference to the inheritance received, the phrase also describes the present. But the most revealing warning came when talking about the fiscal surplus. “The surplus still depends largely on two people: the president Javier Milei and the minister Luis Caputo“, he acknowledged, admitting that the balance of public accounts still does not have the necessary institutional support to survive a change in management. The same idea had been anticipated by Caputo days before, when he recommended “not buying the story” that any government could sustain zero deficit.
The picture that Daza paints is that of a real but fragile transformation, promising but still awaiting demonstration in everyday life. A moment that, in his own words, is “beautiful” in macroeconomic indicators, but that “it still doesn’t feel” where it matters most.
