The International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced that it has reached a technical agreement with Argentina to approve the last two revisions of the agreement it signed with the Latin American country for the refinancing of its debt in January 2022.
The Fund will release $7.5 billion in August to ease Argentina’s economy, but the funds won’t reach the South American country’s coffers until the board reviews details during the second half of that month.
The Argentine government has celebrated that the new agreement removes the discussion on the debt with the IMF from the electoral campaign.
Argentina’s Economy Minister, Sergio Massa, celebrated the agreement during a campaign tour of the country’s northwest.
“It allows us to move quietly in this second half of the year, which is distinguished by elections,” Massa explained.
A challenging situation
“Since the completion of the fourth review in March of this year, Argentina’s economic situation has become very challenging due to the larger-than-expected impact of the drought on exports and tax revenues,” the IMF said in a statement.
“There have also been policy slippages and delays, which have contributed to strong domestic demand and a weaker trade balance. As a result, the end of June 2023 performance criteria were not met,” the IMF added.
