Pope Francis staged a surprise visit to admonish the International Monetary Fund chief and several finance ministers to help alleviate the debt burden of struggling countries, calling for “a new financial architecture” to ensure social justice.
Ms. Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), issued the following statement after meeting with Argentina’s Economy Minister Martin Guzmán in Rome:
A smiling Pope Francis welcomed the new president of Argentina, Alberto Fernández, to the Vatican on Friday morning and then spoke with him in a private audience for 45 minutes, signaling that good relations exist between the two leaders and suggesting that this could perhaps open the door for the pontiff’s first visit to his homeland since his election—though the president later said they did not discuss this.
Greater certainty around Argentina’s public policies could help reactivate growth and investments in the recession-hit country, the International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday.
Argentine Economy Minister Martin Guzman will meet with International Monetary Fund officials in New York on Tuesday, an IMF spokesman said on Monday, as the government continues talks with its biggest creditor ahead of a massive debt restructuring.
Argentina's Economy Minister Martin Guzman iis in New York and on Monday will be participating of a conference at the Council of Americas. Later in the day he will meet h International Monetary Fund and U.S. Treasury officials, as part of Argentina's efforts to revive growth and renegotiate its debts.
International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Friday the lender has had “very constructive” exchanges with Argentina's new Peronist government and would do whatever possible to assist the indebted country.
The United States and China still have a long way to go to resolve their trade disputes although the partial deal signed this week is a step forward, IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said on Friday. “Trade truce is not the same as trade peace,” she said.
President Alberto Fernandez said he has set a March 31 deadline to renegotiate Argentina’s rampant public debt and that a more “innovative” International Monetary Fund approves of the direction his government is taking.
Argentina's debt talks will face their first big test this month with a US$ 277-million payment due on a Buenos Aires provincial bond, seen as a gauge of how the indebted nation's new government will handle its creditors.