Felisa Miceli

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Felisa Miceli

Felisa Miceli, next to President Kirchner.

Felisa Miceli (b. 1953 in Carlos Casares, Buenos Aires Province) is an Argentine economist, and a former Minister of Economy and Production of Argentina. ^[1] ^[2] She was appointed by President Néstor Kirchner on November 28, 2005, in place of Roberto Lavagna, and was the first woman ever to lead that ministry. ^[3] She resigned to the position on July 16, 2007, as prosecutors stepped up an investigation into a bag of cash found in her ministry offices. ^[4] ^[5].

Miceli was a student of Lavagna's at the University of Buenos Aires. She was a left-wing activist in the 1960s, and the Director-Secretary of the Bank of the Province of Buenos Aires between 1983 and 1987. She then worked in Lavagna's consultant firm, Ecolatina, in the beginning of the 1990s. In May 2002, during the presidency of Eduardo Duhalde and at the height of the Argentine economic crisis, she became part of Lavagna's team as a representative of the Ministry of Economy before the Central Bank. On May 30, 2003 she became the chairperson of the Banco Nación.

She was widely considered a follower of Lavagna, and the successful economic policies instituted by the former Minister were expected to continue in force, but Miceli was viewed as more progressive, as well as less independent from the President (with whom Lavagna had had disagreements). In interviews, she stated that the main goal of her administration would be improving income distribution. Argentina's economy grew by an annual 9% during 2004 and 2005, but average wages in real terms are still below the level they had before the devaluation of the Argentine peso in 2002, and poverty, though greatly reduced, is still very high.

On the topic of inflation, which climbed over 10% in 2005 and just behind that figure in 2006, Miceli said that "inflation [would be] a little higher than expected, but it's that or the peace of the graveyards", a reference to the recommendations of the International Monetary Fund about cutting public spending and increasing interest rates to contract the economy. Miceli also denied that increased wages were a source of inflation, attributing it instead to lack of investment to supply rising demand. She supported the "disindebtment" strategy adopted by the government since the beginning of 2005, which consisted in paying the IMF in time and in full without negotiation when possible, so as to reduce the debt and gain financial independence from it (the final step of this policy was the cancellation of the remaining debt in January 2006 on a single payment of about US$9,500 million). ^[6]

Miceli expressed her intention of conducting a comprehensive tax reform, and reviewing the performance of the private retirement pension system, which she considered a failure.

Upon her designation, the Argentine markets reacted briefly with surprise; the MerVal index of the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange fell by 4.5% and the price of the dollar rose slightly. ^[7]

[edit] Scandal and resignation

In July 2007, Miceli was involved in a controversy for a bag containing US$31,000 and AR$100,000 which the police found in a cupboard in her office bathroom. ^[8] ^[9] Miceli claimed it was money lent to her by her brother. The Argentine peso bills, however, were sealed in a special numbered wrapper issued by the Central Bank, and were traced up to a financial firm that did not have records of the withdrawing of any such amount, and did not count Miceli or her brother as clients. Federal prosecutor Guillermo Marijuán demanded a hearing with Miceli.

In the midst of this scandal, the minister was forced to resign on 16 July. The First Lady and presidential candidate Senator Cristina Fernández de Kirchner stated: "We are a government that has the fight against corruption as our banner, and we cannot allow doubts in this regard." Miceli's successor, Miguel Peirano, until then the Secretary of Industry, was designed and announced on the same day. ^[10]