Argentina’s powerful vice-president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and her allies in the leftwing administration want to postpone a crucial US$ 44bn debt deal with the IMF until the pandemic has eased, officials said, avoiding painful spending cuts before October’s midterm elections.
Argentina is planning to reach an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on a new restructuring program by May, an ambitious timeline according to the IMF’s Western Hemisphere Director Alejandro Werner.
President Alberto Fernández believes the International Monetary Fund (IMF) should grant Argentina more “flexible” terms on the repayment terms of the debt and warned that increasing inflation could lead his government to again hike export taxes, the president said in an interview on Sunday with newspaper Página/12.
Argentina’s state-managed oil giant expects to avoid a costly default next month after it won support for a debt swap from a large creditor group. The so-called Ad Hoc Bondholder Group, which holds 45% of YPF’s 2021 notes, expressed support for the exchange after the company increased its cash sweetener over the weekend.
The International Monetary Fund expects the pace of its ongoing discussions with Argentine authorities to accelerate in coming weeks, IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said on Thursday.
The managing director of International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva, highlighted that “they are working constructively with Argentina” and ratified the commitment so that the country ”has clarity about its medium-term objectives.”
Negotiations between the International Monetary Fund and Argentina over a new IMF loan program are “very fluid and constructive,” with Argentine officials expected to come to Washington in the coming days for more talks, IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said on Thursday.
Some 18 million people, 44,2% of the Argentine population live in poverty conditions, and indigence trapped 10,1%, during the third quarter of 2020, according to the Argentina Catholic University Social Debt Observatory.
Argentine Economy Minister Martin Guzman played down the chances of an early agreement with the International Monetary Fund to repay a US$ 44 billion loan, the Financial Times reported.
”Good progress” has been made in parts of a new program between the International Monetary Fund and Argentina, IMF officials said in a statement on Friday. An IMF team visited Argentina to begin discussions on repackaging some US$ 45 billion the country owes the Fund.