MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

IMF in Buenos Aires

An International Monetary Fund delegation is expected this Tuesday in Buenos Aires to resume talks about un locking aid to Argentina and recovering international credit in the midst of one of the country's worst financial crisis in recent history.

The IMF delegation will be headed by Mr. Anoop Singh, considered a hard negotiator, and apparently empowered to discuss credit conditions contrary to previous fact collecting missions.

Argentina's federal government last week reached an agreement with the provinces to drastically cut expenditure and restructure debts and this Wednesday the ruling Peronist Senate is expected to finally approve a very austere budget, two of the IMF and the US Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill's requests to resume talks with President Eduardo Duhalde administration.

However it's uncertain what other requests Mr. Singh and his delegation may put on the table and the Duhalde administration anticipates a "long and exhausting" negotiation. Mr. Singh is expected to scrutinize all of Argentina's numbers: budget deficit, expenditure, the financial and exchange rate systems, monetary policy and the restructuring of foreign debt on which the country defaulted last December.

Argentina's Economy Ministry officials recently revealed the country needs a 25 US billion dollars support to begin fighting recession and to recover the economy and banking system.

IMF and Mr. O'Neill have repeatedly insisted that Argentina's problems can only be solved by the Argentine government and said that the tax-sharing deal and the budget are positive signs in the correct direction.