Old ghosts haunt the thoughts of many foreign multinationals in Argentina. The dirigiste moves of the president Christine Krichner which, as MF reveals, has been doing for a few months pressure on foreign multinationals not to export the profits produced in the country. Add this to theinflation which according to Goldman Sachs has reached 24%, accompanied by one reform of the central bank which reveals a lack of liquidity in the coffers of the state. To complete the fresco is a sanction from the United States that impose new tariffs on imports from the South American country, excluding the country from the Generalized System of Preference. In short, the picture that emerges is not very reassuring for foreign investors. If we then add that last month The Economist decided not to report Argentina's official data among those it proposes every week on world economic trends because it does not consider them reliable enough, there are legitimate doubts about the country's stability.
The same anxieties afflict shareholders of Telecom Argentina, 100% controlled by Telecom Italia, which risks not distributing dividends on 2011 profit, according to what they report local newspapers. According to Page 12, the pro-government newspaper of Buenos Aires, Kirchner would have made an agreement with the executives of Telecom Argentina not to distribute the nearly 2,5 billion pesos generated by the telecommunications company, but agreeing to increase investments and capitalize the company . Obviously from the headquarters of Telecom Italia any agreement is denied and it is emphasized that every decision will be taken in Italy in the assembly of 24 April.
But the same attitude of Kirchner to keep capital within national borders emerges in the matter of Repsol and Endesa, a subsidiary of Enel. Both energy multinationals have to deal with a state that is trying in every way to avoid a new flight of capital abroad.
The dispute with the United States is generating strong tensions in the Casa Rosada. US President Barack Obama has accused Buenos Aires of "failing to act in good faith" with regard to the debt the government owes to two US companies. In fact, Kirchner would have to pay 300 million dollars to the groups Azurix and Blue Ridge, as determined by international arbitration. But Buenos Aires refuses, asking for a judgment in the Argentine courts. Cristina Kirchner defined the decision taken by the United States as "incomprehensible and unilateral", which for now has eliminated Argentina from the preferential system of trade agreements. But Obama's sanction seems more like a move to make people understand President that Peronist dirigisme is not the best solution to the problems of the economy.
