Argentinian president sets election date
Argentinian President Eduardo Duhalde has set elections for late 2003 and unveiled an austerity budget he hopes will lift the country out of economic crisis.
‘‘We are going to call presidential elections for the second Sunday in September 2003,’’ Duhalde declared. He said he hoped the economy will be in order when his successor takes over that December.
Speaking to the nation in a radio address, Duhalde again said he will serve out the term of Argentina’s last popularly elected president, Fernando de la Rua, who resigned in December amid deadly street riots.
‘‘I am the president of the transition, the transition of change,’’ Duhalde said, insisting he had the backing of both major parties, his own Peronists and the opposition Radicals.
Duhalde’s economic plan includes €4bn in spending cuts meant to tighten a gaping budget gap that topped €11.4bn last year.
In a sign of Argentina’s economic woes, the government said it expected the economy to contract by as much as 5% this year, extending nearly four years of recession. Inflation, the government predicted, will rise to 15%, a figure most analysts said could quadruple by the end of the year.
Meanwhile, government plans to completely float the peso were postponed after the Central Bank ordered foreign exchange houses closed for the next two days, barring all currency transactions.
Central Bank authorities said they needed more time to implement a raft of changes in the banking system.
Argentina’s economic crisis, the worst in decades, has triggered the country’s default on almost €163bn in public debt, choked off factory production and consumer spending and left 18% of the work force idle.
At least 26 people were killed in the protests and riots that toppled de la Rua, and major demonstrations have been held this month, including a nationwide protest that turned violent in Buenos Aires.
Duhalde urged the nation’s 36 million people to remain calm while he tries to mend the economy and warned he would maintain order, saying otherwise ‘‘the next stop in Argentina’s brutal slide would mean anarchy, chaos.’’
