MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentine Cabinet Chief on bilateral ties boosting mission in Washington

Posse met with US and IMF officials as the global credit agency is to decide on a US$ 4.7 billion disbursement

Argentine Cabinet Chief Nicolás Posse Tuesday met with officials from US President Joseph Biden's administration as well as with International Monetary Fund (IMF) executives to strengthen bilateral ties, it was reported in Washington DC.

Posse's trip came as the South American country is waiting for a US$ 4.7 billion disbursement from the global credit agency. The IMF Board of Directors is to review the staff agreement with Argentina on Wednesday for the final approval of the US$ 4.7 million package to face impending debt maturities within the seventh review of the Extended Facilities Program.

Posse first met with Assistant US Treasury Secretary Michael Kaplan and International Affairs Undersecretary Jay Shambaugh, as well as with IMF Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath, with whom he had held an encounter earlier this month at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. These meetings “are part of a series of previously scheduled exchanges that have been strengthened since the World Economic Forum in Davos” on Jan. 17, Posse's office explained in a statement.

Posse and Argentine Federal Intelligence Agency (AFI) Chief Silvestre Sivori were also due at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) headquarters for talks with Director William J. Burns.

Earlier this month, the IMF issued a statement saying that “the new [Argentine] administration is already implementing an ambitious stabilization plan, based on a strong initial fiscal consolidation, together with measures to rebuild reserves, correct relative price misalignments, strengthen the Central Bank's balance sheet and create a market economy based on clear and predictable rules.”

Meanwhile, Bank Of America (BofA) predicted Tuesday in Wall Street that the official quotation between the Argentine peso and the US dollar would reach US$ 1 / AR$ 2,200 by the end of 2024, which would represent a 150% increase after staggered adjustments, one of which needs to happen before the end of the first quarter because President Javier Milei's government is carrying out a stabilization plan “which may require an additional depreciation of the exchange rate” in line with the country's inflation.