One of the first decisions he made Serge Massa when he took over as Economy Minister it had nothing to do, strictly, with the area he now commands. It was a striking measure, which the public did not find out about, but which meant a lot to him: he ordered his people to turn off all the computer monitors that historically are always on in the office that now belongs to him. Those devices show live, and 24 hours, the price of the dollar, of the Stock Exchange and other financial variables that concerned the Tigrense, a newcomer to the portfolio and the economy in general. “Turn them off because I’m going to go crazy if you don’t,” the new official told his people. Although the message was loaded with irony, it also had its share of reality: the chair he sat on is on fire. And, in the midst of the economic crisis that he is trying to stop and the internal party that is looking to surf, the attraction of the 2023 horizon also appears. Massa took office just two weeks ago and it seems that the world is on top of him.
Labyrinth
The Tigrense and his team landed in Economy with several ideas and measures, but one stood out above all. It was something that he discussed with Cristina Kirchner in the long meetings they had before they both managed to convince Alberto Fernández to accept the entry of the until then President of the House of Representatives. It is the great concern of the vice president, which she has had since they became a government: the shocking lack of dollars in the Central Bank. All the measures that she is taking are born from this fear that runs through the entire ruling party. It is the same one that led the Tigrense to order his computers to be turned off.
To deal with this great ghost he proposed several ideas. First, he insisted on the idea of announcing “every day” some government measure, which impacts not only because of the decision itself but because of the logic of transmitting management. In fifteen days -at the close of this edition-, the minister managed to at least buy time, advance in the segmentation of rates, and contain the furious escalation in the markets that preceded his administration. That intention to calm things down is similar to that of the boxer who hugs his opponent to prevent them from raining punches. The search is to endure the storm until dollars enter the Central Bank. A US$ 750 million loan from the Andean Development Corporation and US$ 500 million advances from the field export gave it a certain air. Massa promises to get US$5,000 in his first 45 days, between contributions from different international banks. The tour that will start at the end of the month – in which he will have a complex stop in the United States before the authorities of the Fund – points in that direction. Those who spoke with Massa say that much of the sleep he has lost since he became minister has to do with the lack of dollars. “We knew that the situation was bad but the scenario is really complex,” they say in those corridors.
That concern is followed by an attempt to move forward. It is that when the Tigrense took office, also keeping the portfolio of Production and Agriculture, and key positions in Customs and in the Secretary of Energy, the prevailing reading was that the President had managed to retain control of the Central hand in hand with his historic friend, Miguel Pesce. Although that is strictly the reality, the assumption of Lisandro Cleri as vice president of that entity has several layers of reading. He is one of the great economic brains of Massa, he moves in the Ministry of Economy as if by his house, and arrives at the BCRA with the firm idea of concentrating the real power of the bank beyond the position. In those corridors, where the empowerment of Massa is still attentive, they are already encouraged to make a forecast. “Miguel, who is alive, knows that beyond the forms he is going to have to adapt to the new times. Lisandro is going to end up staying in power”, risks one of the strong men of the Central. It must be remembered that control of this institution is so vital that it was one of the two conditions – the other was the Ministry of Energy, which Massa now also controls – that the then Minister Martín Guzmán put in order to continue in his position. The tigrense wants all the buttons.
Future
In one of the meetings in which Massa tries to obtain dollars for the Central, a curious event occurred. It was with the Liaison Table, on Tuesday the 16th. According to Carlos Achetoni, president of the Agrarian Federation, the minister assured in that meeting that he was not going to be a candidate in 2023. Massismo preferred prudence. “We don’t talk about what happens in private meetings,” they say in that team.
Massa knows that if he manages to weather the storm he will be the sung candidate of the Frente de Todos. But he is also aware of the sensitivity of the intern and tries not to stir it up. Now, three years later, the leadership of the Government has reached a check-up scheme between CFK, Alberto and the minister before making any relevant decision. It is that the tigrense no longer needs to thread: he knows that his fate depends on his managing to tame the ghosts that harass him and the economy.
