MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

IMF mission leaves Buenos Aires but talks will continue

There is no deadline for the new understanding between Argentina and the IMF, Adorni said

The International Monetary Fund's (IMF) team rounded up its mission to Buenos Aires Monday saying that negotiations for a new loan will continue. IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva's envoys held meetings with Economy Minister Luis Toto Caputo and other high-ranking officials from the libertarian administration, after which they reckoned that some progress had been made.

“An IMF mission visited Buenos Aires last week to advance talks on a new program. The dialogue was highly constructive and positive. The technical teams will continue to talk in the coming weeks,” IMF sources were quoted as saying. The IMF technical mission headed by Western Hemisphere Department Deputy Director Luis Cubeddu stayed in the Argentine capital for a week.

The Libertarian Government of President Javier Milei hopes to have the new understanding operational by April but is reluctant to speak of deadlines. Even Milei admitted that the new loan amount was not the main issue but rather the sequence of disbursements.

Presidential Spokesman Manuel Adorni acknowledged that there was no certain date for the signing of an agreement with the IMF, but insisted that he hoped it would be this year. “The agreement will be in place because there has not been another time when an Argentine government did what it had to do and put the accounts in order,” he also pointed out. Nevertheless, Adormi admitted that uncertainty spanning beyond one year was “not satisfactory” as markets remain attentive to the latest economic events in Buenos Aires.

Former IMF's Western Hemisphere Department Alejandro Werner warned recalled that “not signing a new agreement would place Argentina in a very delicate financial situation.” In his view, the Milei administration's initial economic achievements are encouraging, but do not ensure a smooth recovery for a path for a country facing maturities of up to US$ 8 billion with the IMF and other international institutions this year.