Monday, September 14, 2015

Kicillof: IMF failed at ‘vulture’ reform

Economy Minister Axel Kicillof yesterday equated the UN approval of a number of “basic guidelines” for sovereign debt restructuring, partly inspired by Argentina’s years-long struggle against the so-called “vulture” funds, in line with other landmark UN documents such as those on the rights of children or women.

“The international press has understood how important this resolution is. Had it been irrelevant as some suggested, then why did we have those six votes opposing it? Those countries wouldn’t have shown up for the vote if the UN were not significant,” Kicillof told Nacional Rock radio.

The countries who voted against the resolution at the General Assembly — the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Japan and Israel — “incriminated themselves,” the minister said. “They showed debt is a mechanism for domination.”

Kicillof was full of praise for the UN, whose role he compared positively to that of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

“The IMF showed that despite its largely critical position on the vulture funds, it was unable to help solve the problem. The UN is a more democratic place, less conditioned by financial powers, which makes it more effective to solve the problem,” he told daily Página/12 in an interview published yesterday.

Herald with online media