Argentine president tells IMF to go fuck itself

And about time, too.

(Argentine) President Nestor Kirchner, who at rallies and speeches this year has called IMF officials “rude” and demanding, said at a press conference in Buenos Aires the government will make the payment after three years of economic growth bolstered foreign currency reserves. The economy grew 9.2 percent in the third quarter on a surge in public spending, the government said today.

Kirchner, 55, vowed to take the decision on several occasions this year to ensure the administration isn't dependent on policies endorsed by the Washington-based lender, including spending caps and higher utility rates. The announcement comes two days after neighboring Brazil said it would repay its $15.5 billion IMF debt.

I’m not an economist, so I don’t know if a weaker dollar has anything to do with how quickly Argentina was able to do this. But, the feelings about the IMF are surely coupled with further anger about the Bush Administration’s ham-handedness toward-left leaning governments in Latin America, which pretty much covers, or could cover after Bolivia’s presidential election, everything south of Columbia. Here’s more from Kirchner:

Kirchner said today the IMF advice and loans in the 1990s helped lead to the country to “failure” and said the fund has neglected to help since the default when they most need the help. He said the IMF’s demands acted as constraints that impeded the economic recovery, and he criticized the fund for not providing financing for the government's debt restructuring this year.

No, but I bet it was more than willing to provide funding for private American and European companies to try to privatize government services there.

And, Kirchner and fellow Argentinians aren’t alone in their anger. Or in their resolve to be free from the vampirism of the IMF.

Kirchner, 55, vowed to take the decision on several occasions this year to ensure the administration isn't dependent on policies endorsed by the Washington-based lender, including spending caps and higher utility rates. The announcement comes two days after neighboring Brazil said it would repay its $15.5 billion IMF debt.

Western-oriented economists claim Argentina is only making things worse:

For Argentina, whose default on $95 billion of bonds in 2001 sent the economy into its deepest recession on record, repaying the IMF will only increase its financing costs, said Claudio Loser, a former director of the Western Hemisphere Department for the International Monetary Fund who now works as an economic consultant in Washington. …

Argentina's dollar-denominated bonds yield on average 5 percentage points more than comparable maturity U.S. Treasuries, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.

“It's going to end up costing Argentina a lot more money because they will have to seek other forms of financing that are more expensive,” Loser said.

Uhh, Mr. Loser, they’ve already got other, non-IMF help:

Kirchner also thanked Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez for his assistance, prompting applause from government officials listening to the speech at the presidential palace. Venezuela this year has purchased almost $1 billion of Argentine bonds.

Let’s see. Chavez can do this because he’s flush with oil money. He’s flush with oil money because, in part, our invasion of Iraq has actually driven down Iraqi oil production, thus driving up world oil prices. Our failure to have a national energy policy based on conservation and development of alternate sources has contributed to this.

Just another bit of stellar work by Bush, Cheney and the rest of the oil-wise CEOs.