Despite the fact that the Argentine government and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will hold regular meetings over the weekend to renegotiate the country’s economic program, sources close to Economy Minister Sergio Massa informed Télam “ National News Agency”, that no date has been set for Massa to travel to Washington to finalize an agreement.
Meetings between IMF officials and the Argentine team, which included Vice Economy Minister Gabriel Rubinstein, Central Bank Vice President Lisandro Cleri, and Central Bank Director Jorge Carrera, began last Tuesday. Chief Ministry Advisor Leonardo Madcur and Finance Secretary Ral Rigo attended the gathering on Thursday morning.
The group is still in Washington, and the government has not ruled out the possibility of more talks over the weekend.
According to Economy Ministry sources, Massa, who is also a presidential candidate for the ruling coalition Unión per la Patria (UxP), could postpone campaign obligations and travel to Washington on Thursday or Friday to finalize the deal in person. Télam stated on Saturday, however, that negotiations became more difficult in the last stages, and the timing of the minister’s journey to Washington is unknown.
Following the publication of an IMF study last week implying that Argentina should devalue and unify its numerous exchange rates, sources familiar with the negotiations informed the Herald that the government is instead looking to impose a new preferential exchange rate for regional economies (including fishing, wine, grapes, pears, apples, rice, yerba mate, tea, tobacco, and other products) and another for grain exports — but soybean exports would be excluded this time.
Another potential action mentioned in the media and reported by Télam was an import tax on certain items. Both options would see the government raise the price of the US dollar for specific import and export transactions without outright depreciating it.
