and gain access to international capital markets. To do so, it will have to find a solution to the ongoing holdout judicial saga. Martín Lousteau, Macri’s pick for the Argentine Embassy in Washington, will be part of that effort as well.

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew

Sunday, December 6, 2015

Prat-Gay lays out plans with US official

Incoming Finance minister Alfonso Prat-Gay has spoken with his US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew to discuss his economic plans to achieve sustained economic growth.

Prat-Gay, one of the members of the six-man strong economic cabinet that Macri ha established, spoke with Lew by phone on Friday and later Prat-Gay’s associates expressed that the meeting had been very productive and that it was just the first step in a broader campaign to increase cooperation and to “normalize” relations between Buenos Aires and Washington in this arena.

The US Treasury is reportedly keen to establish a productive relationship with Macri’s economic team.

The US secretary of the Treasury is analogous to the position of Finance minister and plays a decisive role in advising the US president on economic policy matters at both the domestic and international level.

The Macri administration is seeking both financing to shore up depleted Central Bank reserves, international investment in major infrastructure works and gain access to international capital markets. To do so, it will have to find a solution to the ongoing holdout judicial saga. Martín Lousteau, Macri’s pick for the Argentine Embassy in Washington, will be part of that effort as well.

Lousteau will be replacing former ambassador Ceilia Nahón, who concluded her mandate on Monday after nearly three years on the job. Nahón is also an economist — with close ties to outgoing Economy Minister Axel Kicillof — and one of her primary roles was to lobby the US government as part of its ongoing legal battles with holdout creditors.

Herald staff with Télam