Argentina’s former president, Nestor Kirchner, said this week during a political meeting that Argentina is not going through a recession and continues growing. However, this statement differs from what two independent studies reveal.
Mr. Kirchner, who is the spouse of Argentina’s current president, Cristina Fernandez, said that the country’s economy “has been reactivated despite the international economic crisis” (translated from Spanish). He mentioned as an example of this the five percent increase in demand for energy.
On the other hand, economic reports and analysts' statements have indicated that the country is experiencing economic hardships and that it has officially dipped into a recession.
Today, Hector Mendez, the president of Argentina’s Industrial Union, declared that the economy is stagnant and that the metallurgy, metal mechanic and auto parts industries are in serious trouble.
The consulting firm Orlando Ferreres and Associates, announced that Argentina's economic activity decreased by 2.4 percent in March 2009 compared to March 2008 and that the economy reported a 3.5 percent drop in this year’s first quarter. This would be the second consecutive quarter of negative growth as 2008’s last quarter showed a year-to-year GDP decrease of 2.2 percent.
Another economic study completed by Rubinstein and Associates finds that Argentina’s GDP dropped 2.3 percent during the last quarter of 2008 compared to the same period of the preceding year. Moreover, they announced that preliminary data for the first quarter of 2009 shows an estimated GDP decline of 1.8 percent.