WikiLeaks cable unveils relationship between Kirchners and banks

The Spanish newspaper El Pais published new cables of the US embassy which mention the relationship between the Kirchners and the banks, specially during the period previous to the presidential election of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.

According to the February 2008 cables, the main banks had accepted to issue small enterprise and mortgage loans to boost the campaign of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.

“The government just wanted the headlines and would never check to see if the loans were issued,” stated the cable about what the ex President of the Banco Hipotecario bank, Clarisa Lifsic, told former US ambassador Anthony Wayne.

“The notification of the loans issued was given to the ambassador after a number of encounters with bankers, businessmen and analysts,” El País stated.

The cable also states that Lifsic affirmed that the government “has no long-term vision or plan about generating a mortgage market.”

Meanwhile, the head of the Argentine-owned private banks association (ADEBA), Jorge Brito, told the ambassador that the government had urged “private banks to make loans at low interest rates, but can a bank make a five year loan at 7 percent if it has to give 10 percent to get 60 day deposits?”