MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Massa clinches IMF deal pending board approval

Massa is returning to Buenos Aires with the endorsement of the IMF and the political backing of the White House

Argentina's Superminister Sergio Massa and International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristialina Georgieva Monday reached an agreement for a US$ 4 billion loan for the country's Central Bank (BCRA).

If the Board of Directors should approve of it, the disbursement would be almost a formality, since half of it would return almost overnight to the IMF as repayment.

The document Massa and Georgieva signed must be reviewed word by word. It includes the goals of the second review of the agreement between Argentina and the IMF from earlier this year as well as the guidelines for the third quarter of the year and its future review.

Not only was the second quarter approved, but also the targets for the third quarter were negotiated and which make up for the most critical part for the Argentine team, since the wording stemming from former Economy Minister Martín Guzmán's negotiations allows for little to no further discussions.

Also attending the meeting with Georgieva were Argentina's Deputy Economy Minister Gabriel Rubinstein, Chief Advisor Leonardo Madcur, Central Bank, President Miguel Pesce, and the short-lived minister Silvina Batakis, now head of Banco Nación.

“The program with the IMF has objectives and we have to work to meet them because it is part of the commitments that Argentina assumed as a country,” Massa told Ámbito.

The Argentine official also met Monday with US Treasury Department officials David Lipton, Janet Yellen, Michael Kaplan, and Andy Baukol.

Massa is returning to Buenos Aires with the endorsement of the IMF and the political backing of the White House, but it all hinges on the parliamentary race to cut fiscal spending and make additional budgetary commitments since the goal remains to enlarge the BCRA's reserves.

The Argentine government insisted that the agreement was signed before the effects of the war between Russia and Ukraine began to be felt, which could allow for new talks shortly as global interest in what Argentina may have to offer the world might interest global agencies.