Goodbye Capital Controls, Hello IMF Loans, Welcome Back Financial Repression. Notes on Argentina’s 2018/2019 Currency Crash

Abstract

This article describes the Argentinean experience during the first two decades of the 21st century. After a successful recovery phase from the 2001 debt crisis, during 2011 Argentina adopted incorrect macroeconomic policies to avoid the contractionary and inflationary effects from a large depreciation of the currency, by implementing a strict system of restrictions on foreign exchange purchase and sale. The restrictions were lifted 4 years after their implementation, and during 2016-2017 Argentina drew heavily from international capital markets until the country suffered a sudden stop of capital flows.