Next Argentine President Readies Economic Rescue

29/05/2001| IslamWeb

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (Reuters) - Argentina on Saturday prepared to install an interim president, who is expected to kick off his two-month mandate with a rescue plan for an economy that has pushed people to bankruptcy and rioting.
Adolfo Rodriguez Saa, a governor tapped by the one-time opposition Peronist Party, was to assume the presidency following approval in Congress late on Saturday, filling the power vacuum left by Fernando de la Rua's resignation on Thursday.
The joint session of Congress began late Saturday night with debate on rules for the new elections, due to be held on March 3, expected to continue for hours. The Congress set an 11 a.m. Sunday deadline for a vote.
Rodriguez Saa said he would immediately present economic measures, which might include, according to local media, the long-awaited default on Argentina's 132 billion debt. It would be the largest debt default in history.
The other major variable in the economic equation -- the future of the one peso-one dollar currency peg -- should remain untouched after Rodriguez Saa said overnight he would stick to the decade-old system known as convertibility.
``We are going to keep the convertibility law. One peso to one dollar,'' Rodriguez Saa told local television. But economists have said the peg is on the brink of collapse and the peso could tumble against the dollar.
The new administration may also modify De la Rua's Draconian banking restrictions, under which Argentines may withdraw only 1,500 per account this month to stem a further run on deposits as devaluation doubts loom.
The streets of the capital and provinces appeared calm on Saturday, two days after looting in supermarkets, protests against De la Rua and clashes with police left 28 people dead. Seven of the victims died of bullet wounds in a battle that broke out in Plaza de Mayo, the site of the presidential palace in Buenos Aires.
PHOTO CAPTION:
Adolfo Rodriguez Saa, governor of Argentine province of San Luis, arrives to Buenos Aires Congress Friday, Dec, 21, 2001. Argentina's acting president Ramon Puertas announced that Saturday the Congress will name Rodriguez Saa Interim President. (AP Photo/Federico Guastavino-La Nacion) Buenos Aires out