[1] Machinea sought to limit central bank liabilities caused by non-performing loans to the nation's then-myriad State enterprises and agencies.

Following Machinea's curtailment of the central bank's dollar sales on February 6, 1989, however,[3] the exchange rate ballooned uncontrollably, and he resigned on March 31.

He then served as Minister of Economy under President Fernando de la Rúa from December 1999 until March 2001, when he was replaced by Ricardo López Murphy.

In exchange, the Argentine government agreed to implement measures requested by the IMF, which included reducing future pensions and deregulation of labour unions' work insurance.

[6] Machinea served as the ninth Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, from December 10, 2003 to May 13, 2008.