RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On March 17, the Argentine Senate has approved with 56 votes in favor, 13 against (from the sector led by Cristina Kirchner), and three abstentions the agreement signed between the Argentine president, Alberto Fernandez, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The agreement will refinance the US$45.5 billion debt that will serve to restructure the ‘stand-by’ program received in 2018 by the government of former Argentine President Mauricio Macri.
Argentina’s Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who refused the agreement, was not present at the vote, as reported by the Argentine newspaper La Nación.
It is expected that next Monday, the IMF board in Washington will approve the agreement, and Argentina will avoid default.
This agreement has been criticized throughout the country. On March 17, at least eight people -among them five policemen- were injured in protests called by leftist organizations against the IMF agreement. A group of demonstrators attacked with stones and Molotov cocktails the Congress of Deputies in Argentina.