A National Development Bank on the Agenda for Argentina?

May 10 (EIRNS)--Speaking May 8 in Buenos Aires, Argentine Finance Minister Felisa Miceli suggested that it is "perhaps time to think of creating an entity to finance the process of sustained growth" that has occurred over the four years that Nestor Kirchner has been President. Specifically, she said that the government was contemplating creating a National Development Bank, although she gave no further details.

Her remarks should come as no surprise, however, given President Kirchner's prominent leadership role continentally in both challenging the International Monetary Fund's predatory practices and in helping to forge the Bank of the South, the latter is expected to be founded in late-June, and will operate completely independently of the IMF to finance the development and infrastructure projects the region so urgently needs.

Why a development bank? Because, Micelli explained, "the country needs banks to finance industrial companies that, to date, have had to dip into their own funds or reinvest profits. It's time to consolidate what has now been reborn, but was almost destroyed in the past decade."