Argentina approves second review of IMF agreement

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced that in the second quarter Argentina met all quantitative targets of the new program with which the country refinanced its US$44 billion debt.

The Fund’s technicians have approved the targets for the second quarter of the year (April-June), so now all that is needed is the approval of the Executive Board, which will meet in the coming weeks.

Once the agency’s Board of Directors has analyzed the program’s performance, Argentina will receive US$3.9 billion (equivalent to 3 billion Special Drawing Rights (SDRs)) to settle its debt.

“Recent decisive policy actions to correct past setbacks are helping to restore confidence and strengthen macroeconomic stability, including through the restoration of international reserves,” the IMF report said.

Ahead of a meeting between IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and President Alberto Fernández, who traveled to the U.S. to attend the United Nations General Assembly, at the Argentine Consulate in New York on Monday, the organization said that “the targets set when the agreement was approved will remain unchanged until 2023.”

In its statement, the IMF recalled that one of the problems of the South American country is the high inflation, which reached 7.5% per month last month.

Economy Minister Sergio Massa met with Georgieva a week ago, five days after the multilateral body completed its second technical review.

The Economy Ministry ratified the applicable guidelines of the agreement reached with the Fund to refinance the debt contracted under the Mauricio Macri government (2015-2019).

This agreement provides for an estimated deficit of 2.5% of gross domestic product (GDP) this year.