News Center

The final battle for the destination of sliding export taxes
Clarin
June 27, 2008

By Marcelo Bonelli

The U.S. Treasury Department asked for a confidential report on the farm crisis. In Washington they want to know about its magnitude and how it will impact international grain and cereal markets. Brian O Neill, assistant Treasury secretary and the right hand man of Henry Paulson met with Carlos Fern ndez. It happened a few days ago in Mexico, at a discreet meeting of the economy ministers. O'Neill told Fern ndez of the displeasure felt in the U.S. over the lack of negotiations to resolve the debt with the Paris Club.

The Washington official said this at the end of a summit of private financiers, IMF officials and members of the Paris Club itself. They met on June 11th in Paris with the most important bankers in the system, such as Jacques De Larosiere of BNP, David Lubin of CitiBank, Robert Gray of HSBC, Nicola Stock, head of Task Force Argentina, Charles Dallara of the International Finance Institute, and Eric Lalo of Lazard Freres.

The meeting was called by Xavier Musca head of the Paris Club- to evaluate the effects of the international financial crisis on emerging nations.

It was here where criticism of Argentina surfaced. The offensive was initiated by Nicola Stock, but the surprise came from the representative of the German government.

The German official joined in the criticism from Stock and shared Germany's bad mood over the lack of an Argentine proposal to pay off the Paris Club debt, and the debt with private bondholders.

Xavier Musca told them both: We are in the same situation as you are.

First, he confirmed that Argentina had not made any official presentation of a Paris Club payment. And after he warned: if Argentina will seek to restructure its debt, it will be necessary that it must pass through a previous agreement with the IMF.