Pablo Miedziak, from IAEF: 'Milei has a determination and courage rarely seen'

In the framework of the 42nd Congress of the Argentine Institute of Finance Executives (IAEF), Pablo Miedziak, president of the entity, spoke with La Derecha Diario about the objectives of the meeting and the economic context the country is going through.

With a plural and proactive perspective, the event brings together representatives from the public and private sectors, including officials from the Central Bank, governors, entrepreneurs, and financial directors of large companies, with the purpose of discussing the main challenges and opportunities facing Argentina. According to Miedziak, the Congress seeks to offer a space for reflection on the economic course, highlighting the need to build predictability and credibility.

During the interview, Miedziak analyzed key topics such as the decrease in inflation, the path toward lifting the currency exchange restrictions, the external financing of Argentine companies, and the evolution of country risk. He also assessed the role of the current economic team and emphasized the importance of maintaining long-term policies that promote stability. Meanwhile, he referred to the global impact of the easing in the trade war between the United States and China, and how these international variables can benefit Argentina in its process of economic normalization.

The full interview with Pablo Miedziak

Ares: What I wanted to start by asking you is: what are the main objectives of the Congress and how do they align with the current challenges of the country's economy and finance?

Miedziak: Indeed, tomorrow we have the Congress, which is the 42nd of our institution, which, in a couple of years, will already be 60 years old. I'd say we're going to have the main representatives of not only the economy but the country. What I mean is: we're going to have representatives from different political parties, we're going to have the presence of the Central Bank, and then the Minister of Economy and the President of the Nation will be closing the event.

To give you an idea of the magnitude of the event, yesterday Sunday we were talking internally with the entire institute team and we had 2,500 registered. And to give you an idea, today is the day when you start to close and you're quite sold out. What are the expectations? Look, the expectations... what we try to do in this type of event is to bring to our associates and the business community what's happening today in the country, what the government thinks, where it's going, and we also bring a plurality of voices.

The institute is completely apolitical; we invite all the current governors, and well, then there are some who have, if you will, a bit more vocation to communicate, to say what's happening —maybe some governments—, but the truth is we invite everyone. And well, tomorrow we're going to have three deputies, we're going to have governors from three different provinces, and, as I was saying, also, just as the head of Government of the City of Buenos Aires accompanies us at the opening, the President of the Nation ends up closing.

Ares: Perfect. Now I wanted to ask you: what topics or issues that the country is going through do you think should have a central place in the discussions that will take place precisely at the Congress?

Miedziak: I think the topics are... I think it's time to take stock. I mean, it's time to... the government is a completely new government from the point of view that it's not a political party that existed two or three years ago, and you have something, if you will, quite different from what we've been used to for a long time. And it's a moment in which a year ended —very recently—. I mean, four months ago a full year ended where quite a few conclusions can be drawn about what the balance of that year was. And then, once you have that balance, today quite a few clear rules are starting to emerge. The country —I'm convinced— is in a process of normalization. And when I talk about normalization and balance, I mean that in the first year of management, inflation dropped from levels of 30, 25 percent monthly, to between 2 and 3 percent monthly. That, to give you an idea, is 1,300 percent to 30. You keep seeing a bit of what happened and the economy started on the path toward lifting the currency exchange restrictions. Poverty levels dropped, you have Argentine companies obtaining financing abroad, and you end up, if you will, with something that is zero deficit. That hasn't been seen, especially, so many things together and happening at the same time. So, what we're going to see tomorrow are the voices from the business perspective, finance directors of two of the largest companies in Argentina, Telecom and YPF. I'd love to hear a bit about what the challenges are for two companies that need a lot of capital, how they're getting it and if they're getting it, because at the end of the day they're companies that have to go abroad to convince them to invest in Argentina. Then, we also have CEOs who will tell you how they manage, and entrepreneurs. The entrepreneur is the owner of the company who will tell us if they agree or not with this type of measures that are coming. If you will, let's see, they're affirming what the government said it was going to do. Because the government said: I'm going this way, I'm going for this devaluation, I'm going for these types of changes, and I think it's fulfilling everything.

Ares: In that sense,  how did you receive the lifting of the currency exchange restrictions  and how do you see the work that Caputo is doing precisely and, well, the directive that follows from Milei, for the country's economy to have stabilized so quickly?

Miedziak: Look,  the lifting of the currency exchange restrictions I think is 100% positive news for everyone. I mean, for all sectors: for individuals who can access if they want to save in dollars, for companies that had trapped dividends and the government gives you an instrument so you can try to get everything out with the stocks, so that from here the flow can also be repatriated in case someone has to send it abroad. And at the end of the day, what it does is give you greater fluidity with the world. I mean, if you're in a country where I can't transfer dollars and also, if I receive them, you question them, I think it's 100% very well received by absolutely all sectors. And from the point of view of how I see the team, look, I think the team is super well. I see a team that came back reinforced. Reinforced I mean with much more experience, with more calmness, and additionally a very big change. When I refer to this, you have Caputo, you have Pablo Quirno, you have Bausili and Vladimir Werning, who were in some previous period, and today they're basically four people who are back managing the economy, but with a big difference, which is a president who has determination and courage rarely seen. Where you realize he gives freedom to the entire Ministry of Economy, praises it, and it seems that this is reciprocal. You also see the economic team thanking a lot for the opportunity the president gives them to move forward and take measures. Incredibly, we have a president who is Minister of Economy, but who gives all the freedom to the economic team to move forward.

Ares: You always publish a monthly indicator on the country's financial conditions. I wanted to ask you how you think this easing of tension between the trade war between the United States and China might impact, perhaps in next month's indicator.

Miedziak: No, well, that's super fresh news, I mean, today's news. It was a pretty complicated month, I mean, it was a month where a month ago Trump raised tariffs and China replied and the world, if you will, didn't know which way to go. Then Trump adjusted a bit discursively with China, but not with the rest of the countries. Today's news made the markets soar. I have no doubt that it will positively impact the world, and what positively impacts the world always ends up benefiting and affecting Argentina.

And here let me draw a parallel in terms of predictability or not and credibility. Argentina for me is on the path to normalization, seeking and building predictability and credibility. At the end of the day, when you provide predictability and know what's going to happen, that's much better for all companies. And here I want to draw the parallel with the United States: the United States is also a very predictable country. A month ago, predictability was gone, and you didn't know where Trump was going, and the markets went through the roof. And in that, I think Argentina is doing an excellent job, which is not a matter of a year or a government. I mean, it's a matter of being able to repeat 2024 for many years.

Ares: Speaking precisely of this, that if the world does well, the country does well,  do you consider that we are close to a significant reduction in country risk to return to the markets voluntarily?

Miedziak: Yes, without a doubt.  Look, last year, 2024, country risk dropped from end to end by this government. Just like the decision balance, it dropped 1,300 points, from 1,900 or 2,000 to about 700 points approximately. It dropped a bit more, it stabilized. And when I say "it stabilized," also, it stabilized at times when Argentina was doing things right. But you had this global turbulence, and when you have global turbulence, if you will, it impacts you a bit. But all the news of "I agreed with the Fund," additionally that "I agreed with the Fund," "I was able to lift the currency exchange restrictions"... Lifting the currency exchange restrictions will imply that I have a better relationship with the whole world. Government companies started to manage, started talking about productivity, and adjusted 40,000 people. And you have two companies like AySA and Aerolíneas:  Aerolíneas said it won't ask for subsidies after 17 or 18 years of having asked for 8 billion dollars; AySA, after 17 or 18 years, gave positive operating results. I have no doubt that country risk will continue to drop. But the best of all this: I believe that country risk is the grade the world gives you, right? I mean, it's the grade that from outside they give us, how the world sees us, how the business world sees us, and it's telling you that you're on the right path.

Ares: And now the last question I wanted to ask you is precisely about corporate debt, right? How is the issue of negotiable obligations coming along?

Miedziak: Look, 2024 —which we were just talking about the balance—  was a record for Argentine companies seeking financing. At the end of the day, you see, you have a good project, but if you don't have someone to finance it, it's a bit complicated. In 2024, companies obtained abroad —because here the best is trapped—  6.1 billion dollars, which is 60% more than in 2023. After that, you're now in a period where we're hearing that, I think, in the next three or four weeks there will be several companies going to issue new debt to continue precisely with the big projects they have. And I think that's surely what the finance directors of the most important companies will talk about tomorrow at our Congress.

Ares: I wanted to give you space in case you want to make any final reflection...

Miedziak: No, let's see, the final reflection I want to make is that I think we also have to be prepared in case some unexpected or short-term event happens, as always happens. And I think all Argentines and the entire Argentine business community have to balance a bit more what are individual and sectoral objectives with Argentina's and long-term objectives. We have to think that we are on the path to normalization, we are building a country that is more predictable and more credible. And we have to be convinced that —I'm not saying we abandon them— but, if we balance a bit more, that there are many measures that benefit the country and benefit in the long term, they will end up favoring us all.