Argentine President Cristina Fernandez on Thursday fired the country’s central bank president, who had rejected her calls to step down for refusing to use Argentina’s foreign currency reserves to pay debt.
Fernandez issued a presidential decree removing Martin Redrado from office, citing misconduct and dereliction of duties. He was replaced by Central Bank Vice President Miguel Pesce, a government ally, who will serve as interim president.
The conflict has highlighted uncertainty in Argentina as Latin America’s No. 3 economy tries to win back investor confidence and return to global markets with a bond issue eight years after a massive debt default.
It also threatens to open a protracted legal battle led by an emboldened opposition that has backed Redrado and is looking to challenge Fernandez after she lost control of Congress in mid-term elections last year.
Redrado will step down to respect the decree and planned to present a court injunction against his firing either yesterday or today, a central bank official said.
The former central bank head did not comment publicly about his ouster as constitutional experts questioned the legality of Fernandez’s decision.
His firing came after Argentine stock, bond and currency markets closed, but the spread on Argentine bonds over comparable US Treasuries widened 25 basis points to a near three-week high of 681, the JP Morgan Emerging Market Bond Index showed.
The deadlock between the government and Redrado has heightened political tensions and cast a shadow over the government’s attempts to reshape its image among investors.
The Argentine leader on Wednesday asked Redrado to resign after he failed to act on her order to use US$6.6 billion in foreign currency reserves to meet debt payments next year.
Argentine Economy Minister Amado Boudou, in comments to Radio 10, said the government would hold talks with Mario Blejer, who headed the central bank in 2002 and is a former IMF official, about taking over permanently as the bank’s chief.
Under the central bank’s charter, the executive branch can dismiss a member of the bank’s board but must have a recommendation from a special congressional committee.
The presidential decree, however, stated that Congress is in recess and its recommendation is nonbinding.
Some Argentine legal analysts said the dispute may be headed for more legal wrangling.
Constitutional lawyer Gregorio Badeni questioned the legality of Redrado’s dismissal.
Super Typhoon Kong-rey is the largest cyclone to impact Taiwan in 27 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Kong-rey’s radius of maximum wind (RMW) — the distance between the center of a cyclone and its band of strongest winds — has expanded to 320km, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. The last time a typhoon of comparable strength with an RMW larger than 300km made landfall in Taiwan was Typhoon Herb in 1996, he said. Herb made landfall between Keelung and Suao (蘇澳) in Yilan County with an RMW of 350km, Chang said. The weather station in Alishan (阿里山) recorded 1.09m of
STORM’S PATH: Kong-Rey could be the first typhoon to make landfall in Taiwan in November since Gilda in 1967. Taitung-Green Island ferry services have been halted Tropical Storm Kong-rey is forecast to strengthen into a typhoon early today and could make landfall in Taitung County between late Thursday and early Friday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, Kong-Rey was 1,030km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the nation’s southernmost point, and was moving west at 7kph. The tropical storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 101kph, with gusts of up to 126 kph, CWA data showed. After landing in Taitung, the eye of the storm is forecast to move into the Taiwan Strait through central Taiwan on Friday morning, the agency said. With the storm moving
NO WORK, CLASS: President William Lai urged people in the eastern, southern and northern parts of the country to be on alert, with Typhoon Kong-rey approaching Typhoon Kong-rey is expected to make landfall on Taiwan’s east coast today, with work and classes canceled nationwide. Packing gusts of nearly 300kph, the storm yesterday intensified into a typhoon and was expected to gain even more strength before hitting Taitung County, the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. The storm is forecast to cross Taiwan’s south, enter the Taiwan Strait and head toward China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The CWA labeled the storm a “strong typhoon,” the most powerful on its scale. Up to 1.2m of rainfall was expected in mountainous areas of eastern Taiwan and destructive winds are likely
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday at 5:30pm issued a sea warning for Typhoon Kong-rey as the storm drew closer to the east coast. As of 8pm yesterday, the storm was 670km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and traveling northwest at 12kph to 16kph. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 162kph and gusts of up to 198kph, the CWA said. A land warning might be issued this morning for the storm, which is expected to have the strongest impact on Taiwan from tonight to early Friday morning, the agency said. Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島) canceled classes and work
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