Argentina Background and Government Format

Background Information Second largest country in south America, 8th largest in the world.

Population of nearly 40 million.Currency: Argentine peso GDP per capita is U.S $10,500

Government Federal Republic very similar to United States

government.Ruled by a constitution which calls for a federal union of

all the provinces that retain the powers not directly delegated to the federal government by the constitution.

Separation of powers between the branches, a mirror image of the united states.

Voting is compulsory for all citizens 18 to 70 years of age.

Who controls the governmentTheir constitution calls for civilian rule. But throughout

history their constitution has been suspended a few times. Most recently from 1976 to 1983 the suspension led to a

military rule, were they took over actions of the three branches of government.

Since the resumption of civilian government in 1983 there has been tension between military and government.

In the late 1990’s a political crisis opened the door for another military take over. However, the military was unwilling to step in signaling the consolidation of civilian rule.

Taxes and spending decisions Providences of Argentina have abundant powers

to decide how they want to handle taxing and spending decisions.

Even though the constitution gives room for the local governments to tax as they want, in practice these governments have delegated these responsibilities to the federal government.

Within its federal structure all levels of government are permitted to borrow both domestically and abroad.

Current Government of Argentina President: Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (2007-2014) and

Néstor Kirchner (2003-2007)

Four main sources of tax revenueTaxes on goods and services

Majority from general/value added taxesRest of revenue from excise, import, export taxes

Taxes on incomeEvenly distributed between individual and corporate

Taxes on propertyMost revenue from financial, capital transactions

Social security contributionsPayroll tax where employers pay majority

Government SpendingSocial security spending (ANSES)

Pension payments and family allowances account for most of spending

Proposed spending in 2011 equivalent to 43.5% of fixed costs in federal government draft budget

Health spending not as costly at federal levelPublic insurance covers 49% and private just 8.6%Program mostly handled at provincial level

Education and Military also make up noticeable chunks of budget

Budget Deficits

Response to Financial Crisis Debt Restructuring through Bond Swaps

20052010

Bond swap for holdouts ($18.6 billion) Reduced debt by $12.4 billion Cleared 92% of debt remaining from 2001 default ‘Vulture Funds’

Selective Default (2014)

Responses to the Financial Crisis Increase Social Welfare Spending

Increased by 4.3% between 2001-20092009: Universal Allocation per Child

Nationalization of Private Pension Funds 2008$30 billion in assets and funds moved from private accounts to

nationally run retirement program

Responses to Financial Crisis Fighting Corruption

Tax Evasion Political Finance Judicial Integrity

Works cited BARRIONUEVO, Alexei. "Argentina Nationalizes $30 Billion in Private Pension Funds." New York Times, October 21,

2008, World Business sec. Accessed December 1, 2015. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/22/business/worldbusiness/22argentina.html.

Caliari, Aldo. "Where the Argentine Debt Case Stands Now, and Why It Still Matters." NACLA. April 15, 2015. Accessed December 1, 2015. https://nacla.org/news/2015/04/06/where-argentine-debt-case-stands-now-and-why-it-still-matters.

Nohan, Cecilia. "The Real Facts On Argentina's Sovereign Debt Restructuring: A Rebuttal." Forbes, December 19, 2013. http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2013/12/19/the-real-facts-on-argentinas-sovereign-debt-restructuring-a-rebuttal/

Hornbeck, J.F. "Argentina’s Defaulted Sovereign Debt: Dealing with the “Holdouts”." Fpc.state.gov. September 24, 2010. Accessed December 1, 2015. http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/150187.pdf.

"Argentina Facts." National Geographic. Web. 1 Dec. 2015.http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/countries/argentina-facts/

"Argentina- Government." Nations Encyclopedia. Web. 20 Nov. 2015.http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Americas/Argentina-GOVERNMENT.html

Wood, Geoffrey. "Argentina." Money and Banking History. New York: Routledge, 2011. Print.

"ANSES Budget." El Auditor. Web 1 Dec. 2015. https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://www.elauditor.info/files/50a6dd3f478de.pdf&prev=search 

"Details of Tax Revenue - Argentina." OECD.Stat. Web 24 Nov. 2015.https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=REVARG

"Argentina - Public Spending on Education." Index Muni. Web 22 Nov. 2015.http://www.indexmundi.com/facts/argentina/public-spending-on-education 

"Argentina Government Budget." Trading Economics. Web 22 Nov. 2015.http://www.tradingeconomics.com/argentina/government-budget