MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

IMF Chief praises Argentine gov't

“Our commitment is with the people of Argentina,” Georgieva insisted

International Monetary Fund Managing Director Thursday praised the commitment of Argentine President Alberto Fernández's administration to comply with the debt-repayment program agreed upon.

Georgieva also underscored Superminister Sergio Massa for his endeavors in this regard, but admitted that “the Argentine people expect their government to take the need to reduce inflation seriously.”

Massa has been dubbed “a superminister” after blending into one office what used to be 3 separate agencies (Economy, Agriculture and Fisheries, and Production).

The IMF executive also reckoned political factors were interfering with the economic negotiations but downplayed their importance on the grounds that these issues exist in all countries. “We are fully aware that, not only in Argentina, in many countries, there are pressures from the population that go against what is best for the people: Pressures to increase spending when it is not affordable and when it fuels inflation,” Georgieva said.

Georgieva's remarks came in Washington DC during the IMF's Annual General Meeting, which Massa is also attending.

“What pleases us is that Minister Massa has taken his responsibility very seriously. He has committed along with his team to fulfill what we have agreed upon in our program. And it has shown that the commitment is there because we have been able to successfully carry out the second review,” Georgieva pointed out.

“Our commitment is with the people of Argentina. And what the people of Argentina expect is that their government will take seriously the need to reduce inflation to provide a platform to accelerate growth, and that is what we support with our program,” she added.

“We will follow very closely the response of the economy to policy measures, we never take a program as set in stone if conditions change significantly,” Georgieva also explained. ”I can tell you that we are not going to be flexible against the interest of the Argentine people, but we will look at the reality that you see in Argentina, making sure that our program helps anchor the economy and, over time, bring back market access for Argentina.

For the remainder of Thursday Massa had an engagement with IMF Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath together with the IMF's Western Hemisphere Director Ilan Goldfajn and Luis Cubeddu, head of the Fund's mission in Argentina. Massa's agenda also included a meeting with France's Secretary of the Treasury Emmanuel Moulin in charge of the Paris Club to resume negotiations towards repaying a US$ 2 billion debt.

(Source: Infobae)