Argentina and the IMF closed an agreement to restructure the debt of US $ 45,000 million

WASHINGTON (Uypress) – The International Monetary Fund and Argentina confirmed this Thursday that they reached an agreement to restructure the neighboring country’s debt, which amounts to approximately 45,000 million dollars.

The government of Argentina and the International Monetary Fund confirmed that they closed the agreement to restructure the debt with the organization. The project will be sent this Thursday to Congress for parliamentary discussion, confirmed official sources.

Economy Minister Martin Guzman will attend Deputies next Monday to explain the agreement in committee.

For its part, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) team, headed by Julie Kozack, Deputy Director of the Western Hemisphere Department, and Luis Cubeddu, Head of Mission for Argentina, issued the following statement on Thursday:

“IMF staff and the Argentine authorities have reached a staff-level agreement on economic and financial policies supported by a 30-month Extended Fund Facility Agreement (EFS). The EFS, with requested access of SDR 31,914 million (equivalent to US$45 billion or 1,000 percent of the quota), aims to provide Argentina budget and balance of payments support to address the country’s most pressing economic challenges and improve the prospects of all Argentines by implementing of measures designed to promote growth and protect essential social programs.

The staff-level agreement is still subject to approval by the IMF Executive Board, which has been informally briefed on the elements of the proposed program. The Executive Board is expected to analyze the request for the IMF-backed program after the Argentine Congress approves the economic and financial program incorporated in the Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies and the related documents that the authorities will share with legislators. . This legislative consideration is required by Argentine domestic law.

Argentina’s deep socioeconomic challenges have been exacerbated by the global pandemic. The staff of the IMF and the Argentine authorities have reached an agreement on a pragmatic and realistic economic program, with credible policies to strengthen macroeconomic stability and improve the conditions necessary to begin to address the deep challenges for sustainable growth in Argentina.

The program seeks to lastingly address persistently high inflation through a multi-pronged strategy involving a reduction in monetary financing of the fiscal deficit and a new framework for the implementation of monetary policy to generate positive real interest rates to support domestic financing. , which, along with other measures, will help promote a continued reduction in inflation over time.

Equally important will be the program’s emphasis on credibly improving public finances. This will be based on a balanced set of revenue policies – with an emphasis on progressivity, efficiency and tax compliance – as well as spending policies, reducing non-targeted energy subsidies and redirecting spending towards more social and infrastructure investments. productive, to strengthen debt sustainability while supporting recovery.

The program will also seek to strengthen Argentina’s balance of payments through policies that support reserve accumulation and net exports, and pave the way for Argentina’s eventual re-entry into international capital markets. Such policies will include the prudent monetary and fiscal policies already described, as well as policies to maintain a competitive real effective exchange rate in the context of the sliding parity regime.

Additionally, the program will include elements to enhance growth and resilience through policies to mobilize domestic savings, further strengthen governance and transparency, and foster labor, gender, and financial inclusion. Measures will also be taken to encourage investment and promote the sustainability and efficiency of strategic economic sectors, including energy. Taken together, such measures will be critical to begin to address the constraints to more sustainable and inclusive growth. Finally, the program is also expected to catalyze additional international financial support.

We look forward to continuing our work with the authorities to help everyone in Argentina.”

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