(Reuters) - Argentina will have a fiscal surplus of at least 1.4 percent of gross domestic product this year, Economy Minister Amado Boudou said on Thursday.Boudou, speaking on local radio, did not say whether this referred to the primary budget surplus -- before debt payments are made -- or the overall fiscal surplus.
The government's budget had forecast a primary surplus of 2.17 percent of GDP for 2010.
The minister also said the government is not in a rush to reach a deal to repay some $7 billion in defaulted debt to the Paris Club of creditor nations, which includes Germany, Japan and the United States.
"We are not in a hurry ... When we identify the right timing and the parameters that allow for a negotiation that's acceptable for creditors but above all possibly beneficial to Argentina, we will advance on this," Boudou said.
Speaking to local media a day after the country's president unveiled a package of social welfare measures, Boudou said the measures would stimulate consumer spending and bolster domestic demand but should not stoke higher inflation.
He reiterated the government's view that "there is no inflationary process" in Argentina, saying instead that prices on only some products had risen.
Private economists forecast Argentina will end this year with inflation of between 25 and 30 percent. Widely discredited government data put annual inflation at 11 percent through June ARECI09. (Reporting by Hilary Burke; Editing by James Dalgleish)
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2924780120100729
