State, Public Banks and Export Financing: The Great Argentine Loan to the Allies of 1918-19

Abstract

The outbreak of the First World War had a strong impact on Latin American economies, due to the sharp interruption of the influx of capital and the deep disturbances that it caused in international trade. In the Argentine case, a notable aspect was, together with the increase in the fiscal deficit, the growing trade and payment balance surplus. Public indebtedness was reoriented towards the domestic market by the means of a state bank Banco de la Nación, and this institution also granted a large loan to the governments of England and France, to finance the export of cereals to those countries. This work seeks to contribute both to the debate on the financial impact of the war and postwar conflict in Argentina, as well as to the role of public banks to mitigate the ups and downs of the external sector and mitigate its effects on local actors.

El estallido de la Primera Guerra Mundial impactó fuertemente en las economías latinoamericanas, por interrupción de la afluencia de capitales y las perturbaciones en el comercio internacional. En el caso argentino se destacó el aumento del déficit fiscal y el creciente superávit de la balanza comercial y de pagos. Esto permitió financiar el déficit público internamente, a través de la banca estatal, y que ésta concediera un préstamo a favor de los gobiernos de Inglaterra y Francia, facilitando la exportación de cereales a dichos países. En este trabajo se examina el desarrollo de esta operación y su contexto, con el fin de aportar al debate sobre el impacto financiero del conflicto bélico en la Argentina