2022 Year in Review

and political sovereignty. Since the 1976-
83 dictatorship’s collapse, Peronist parties
have governed for sustained periods of
time. Frente de Todos currently governs
as a Peronist coalition between President
Alberto Fernández and Vice President
Kirchner. Despite intermittent periods of
non-Peronist government, Peronism has
unequivocally dictated Argentina's
economic and political trajectory.
Accordingly, many despise and blame
Peronism for Argentina's problems.
ARGENTINA'S ECONOMIC
DEMISE
Based upon current economic
circumstances it is difficult to fathom how
Argentina was once a wealthy country
with a comparable economy to Australia.
Possessing vast natural resources and
fertile agricultural land, Argentina enjoyed
economic development through an
export driven model in the 19th to early
20th century. However, negligent and
sporadic Peronist fiscal policies since
1946 have squandered Argentina’s
omparative advantage, eroded
confidence from international investors,
and caused successive economic crises.
Carlos Menem's Government’s Presidency
during the 1990s is the most notable era
of Peronist economic mismanagement
when analysing today's crisis.
A Peronist with neoliberal characteristics,
Menem infamously privatised state assets
and pegged the Argentine peso to the
U.S dollar on a 1 to 1 basis. This aimed
to combat inflation, stabilise prices and
promote investment by restoring
confidence in the peso. Initially
flourishing, the economy grew by 6.1%
per annum between 1991-1997 with $24
billion of foreign investment.
Menem subsequently increased state
expenditure by 50%. However, Menem
refused to remove the currency peg
despite the economy's eventual
deterioration, as uneven conversion
rates, capital flight, and overwhelming
debt bankrupted Argentina.
Menem is therefore causally responsible
for an Argentine economy that never
rebounded. For foreign investors and
markets, Argentina’s economy is too
risky, thus creating precarious
conditions for economic recovery
because of negligible capital circulation.
THE 2022 IMF
AGREEMENT
Argentina was already economically
vulnerable before the flow on effects of
the 2022 War in Ukraine. Consequently,
conditions influenced by Peronist
economic mismanagement and Covid-19
worsened. To avoid defaulting on
repayments, in early 2022 Argentina
negotiated an agreement with the IMF to
refinance their 2018 loan.
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