Argentina lifts banking restrictions
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina, (UPI) -- Argentine authorities said on Friday, 22 November that citizens will have complete access to their checking and savings accounts beginning Monday.
The move marks the end to nearly a year of a freeze on banking accounts, and will give Argentines access to some $6 billion that had been locked down.
Economy Minister Roberto Lavagna said, though, that restrictions on withdrawals from certificate of deposits will remain.
The restrictions originally went into affect when then-President Fernando de la Rua enacted the measure as a run on banks threatened to bring down the financial sector.
More than $20 billion was pulled from the banking system in 2001.
It was largely those banking restrictions that sent tens of thousands of Argentine protesters into the streets and forced de la Rua's resignation.
Chaos ensued, as the International Monetary Fund halted its $22 billion loan package with the country.
Four presidents then rotated through power in the final two weeks of December, with one of the temporary leaders declaring the largest sovereign default the world has seen.
President Eduardo Duhalde -- appointed by Congress and in office since Jan. 1 -- is still trying to reach the elusive deal with the IMF on renewing aid, but through it all he has kept protesters at bay and stuck with the banking freeze.
Duhalde had previously eased the banking restrictions, when in early October he began to allow partial withdrawals from accounts of about $600.
The move signals both that Argentine officials are confident that another run on banks won't occur and that they are hoping citizens will spend their newly accessible money and help spark an economic recovery.
The country is well into its fourth year of recession, as unemployment hovers at 20 percent and more than 50 percent of Argentina's 36 million people are living below the poverty line.