The Central Bank and the government throughout the last quarter of the 20th century: the case of Argentina

"Since the depletion of the schemes of nationalization of deposits (1977), to the end of the Currency Board and the Second External Debt (2002), the Central Bank of Argentina periodically changed their functions, instruments and targets of monetary policy, being a key player in the adjustment plans (Australito & Primavera), and stabilization programmes (Tablita) and economic growth (Austral), unilateral trade and financial openness (Currency Board), varying degree of dependence on the government decisions. The purpose of this work is to determinate the participation and evaluate the performance of the Central Bank in the last quarter of the twentieth century: In the first section we will analyse the transition from and scheme of nationalization of deposits to a Free Banking System guaranteed by the government (The Tablita), the second section develop the attempts to stabilize prices and outputs under the first debt crisis, while the third section corresponds to the Central Bank’s role in the scheme of unilateral liberalization and the fixed exchange rate (The Convertibility Plan)."