Inside Argentina’s financial crisis | The fall and rise of Argentina | | “Can you pay me before I die?”
I first met Roberto Lavagna more than 25 years ago. When I finished my PhD at Boston University, I worked at FIEL, a small think-tank in Argentina. This was in 1979. I was working on a project aimed at calculating effective protection of the Argentine economy, a subject in vogue in our country at the time. Lavagna had been director of the national board of prices in the mid-1970s, where he put together econometric work essential for the calculations I was working on. I got in touch with him for some help. He was very open and helpful. That was the start of our relationship. We also met occasionally after I joined an association of economists, of which Lavagna was a board member.
In the 1980s I left Argentina for seven years to work for the government as a trade negotiator in Brussels and Geneva. Lavagna is married to a Belgian. He would visit Brussels occasionally and we would get together, go out to restaurants, exchange views.
I then returned to Buenos Aires. Lavagna was not a close friend but I had a good relationship with him. We both campaigned for the Alianza, in the 2000 elections. When Fernando De La Rua won the presidency in 1999, he appointed Lavagna as ambassador to both the EU in Brussels and the World Trade Organization in Geneva. So I introduced him to many of my friends at the European Commission.
When, in April 2002, Jorge Remes Lenicov resigned as economy minister; Lavagna was the only person who had the political skills necessary to replace him at that very difficult time. I was then a member of the central bank board. Lavagna was sworn in on a Saturday morning. On the Monday evening, he asked me to see him. He wanted to offer me the position of economy secretary. I told him I’d be more valuable as finance secretary. Lavagna didn’t say anything straightaway. We met again the following day to discuss the initial steps and candidates for the team. At that meeting I introduced Leonardo Madcur and Sebastian Palla, both of whom worked with me in the private sector. They joined us from the beginning, later becoming key members of minister Lavagna’s inner circle. At the end of the conversation Lavagna said: “By the way, the president agrees on you becoming secretary of finance.”
It was on Wednesday, May 1, that the chief of staff announced the economic cabinet. The fact that it was announced on Labour Day, a holiday, shows how much anxiety there was. The announcement was made at 8am. Minutes later every phone in my house was ringing at the same time: I have two mobiles and two landlines. Journalists were calling: the economy ministry positions had been announced.
The decree for my official appointment was signed on Friday, May 3. I started working immediately and all weekend. When I first joined I knew that the risks we were going to take were high, given the complexity of the situation; that I had to deal with the banks, insurance companies, and so on, but initially I didn’t fully understand what it all necessarily meant. I soon did.
