Argentina pays IMF debt with yuan and CAF funds to avoid depleting its international reserves

Argentina’s Economy Minister, Sergio Massa, outlined the country’s plan to pay off its US$3.5 billion debt to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) due this week.

He assured that no dollars from the country’s international reserves would be used in the transaction.

This announcement follows the recent revision of the agreement with the IMF, which grants Argentina US$7.5 billion by year-end to stabilize the soaring value of the dollar against the peso.

“We will not touch a single dollar from our reserves. It’s a huge relief to see how the Argentine markets are functioning and the care we take for our reserves, which strengthen our economy and currency,” stated Massa during a press conference.

On Monday, the scheduled payment of approximately US$2.7 billion to the IMF resulted from the deferral of several debts to the international organization in July.

An additional US$800 million payment is due on Tuesday, and there is a possibility that the debt may be postponed until the end of the month, similar to the July pending debts.

Massa will arrange “bridge loans” with the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF) and China to fulfill these payments.

China will also provide a new round of currency swaps to enable Argentina to pay part of the debt in yuan.

The plan is to use the US$1 billion loan obtained from CAF last Friday to cover a portion of the US$2.7 billion payment due on Monday, with the remainder covered by the currency swaps with China.

By adopting this approach, Argentina aims to manage its IMF debt without depleting its international reserves and secure the necessary funds through alternative means.

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