Argentine VP invites all poolitical parties to confront “terrible IMF debt”

The Vice President of Argentina, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, urged all political entities in the nation to come together today, to formulate a united response to the “severe debt” the country owes to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

“Considering the rights of our youth and future generations to live in an improved world, we should promote dialogue among all political parties to confront the daunting issue of debt with the IMF,” said the former president (2007-2015) yesterday.

Fernández de Kirchner shared these thoughts during the opening ceremony of the Annex of the Regional Hospital of Río Gallegos in Santa Cruz (south) province, which she led from the Provincial Government House.

Reported by the state news agency Télam, she cautioned that Argentina is grappling with a “complex and challenging situation,” calling for “responsibility from both the government and opposition.”

In March 2022, Argentina and the IMF agreed on a plan to settle a debt of US$44.5 billion accrued by the country in 2018.

This plan includes targets for fiscal discipline, accumulation of reserves in the Central Bank, and curbs on monetary issuance.

In the program’s first year, Argentina’s government successfully met all fiscal, reserve, and monetary emission targets, in line with the technical approvals made by the IMF Executive Board.

However, the South American nation is presently negotiating with the international lending institution to reconsider these targets, given fiscal disparities worsened by a prolonged drought that has impacted the agricultural sector.

Fernández de Kirchner stated that Argentina must “address the dollar shortage, not only to repay the IMF but also to ensure the operation of industry, innovation, and technology.”

She declared that “the middle class, due to its consumption level,” will bear the brunt of the dollar shortage and the economic adjustment due to restricted access to the U.S. currency.

The former president believes that Argentina requires “a model that terminates the bimonetary economy and encourages a single, unified, national, and patriotic stance against those who demand adjustment programs.”