The IMF bashes the IMF over Argentina

INFLATION IN ARGENTINA had intensified, the IMF lamented. The cost of living had increased by some 50% over the course of the year. “The most important source of inflation”, the fund explained, “was government-deficit spending, financed by borrowing from the central bank.” The deficit, in turn, reflected excessive wage demands and the failure of the country’s utilities to raise prices in line with costs. The year was 1958. At the end of it, Argentina turned to the fund for its first “standby arrangement”, a line of credit accompanied by a plan to stabilise the economy.