BUENOS AIRES -(Dow Jones)- The Argentine Senate approved Wednesday another one-year extension of a repeatedly extended emergency law that gives the president wide-ranging unilateral powers in various economic matters.
President Cristina Fernandez will again be granted the emergency powers enjoyed by the former president, her husband Nestor Kirchner throughout his term.
As a senator in 2002, Fernandez opposed the law when it was first drafted in favor of then-president Eduardo Duhalde. She abstained from voting on it when it came up for annual renewal throughout her husband's administration, which began in 2003.
The emergency powers law, which was originally designed to contend with the financial crisis of 2002, affords the executive branch powers to rule by decree in various economic, foreign exchange, industrial and labor policy areas.
It also grants the executive the power to renegotiate public service contracts with utilities without seeking congressional approval for the individual contracts and to renegotiate defaulted debt in the same way.
The emergency powers law has been extended seven times since 2002, despite a five-year recovery in which the Argentine economy has averaged growth in excess of 8.5%.
However, with the international financial crisis looming and a slowdown in GDP growth expected by many analysts next year in Argentina, Congressional resistance to the extension was light.
-By Shane Romig, Dow Jones Newswires; 54-11-4590-2438; shane.romig@dowjones.com
Click here to go to Dow Jones NewsPlus, a web front page of today's most important business and market news, analysis and commentary: http://www.djnewsplus.com/al?rnd=CSwu20xok0%2BinROM%2BrVbQA%3D%3D. You can use this link on the day this article is published and the following day.

Publié le 10 Décembre 2008 Copyright © 2008 Dowjones