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Posted on: Tuesday 13 October 2020 – 1:05 AM | Last update: Tuesday 13 October 2020 – 1:05 am
The International Monetary Fund announced today, Monday, its intention to return to Argentina next week to start talks on the new financing program, after the failure of talks between the two sides on the previous financing program, which was worth 56 billion dollars.
The Bloomberg News Agency indicated that negotiations will begin after the IMF team headed by Julie Kutsak and Luis Kobedo visited the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires, from October 6 to 11, to consult government officials. The IMF envoys met with many Argentine officials, including Economy Minister Martin Guzman, Central Bank Governor Miguel Pace, members of parliament, and representatives of the private sector, labor unions and civil society, according to the fund’s statement.
Last month, Argentina reached an agreement with international creditors to schedule debts of $ 65 billion. At the same time, Argentina still owes the International Monetary Fund about 44 billion dollars from the previous failed agreement that was signed between them in 2018 under the previous government, which was suspended a year later and before its completion.
Argentina’s economy is expected to contract during the current year at a rate of 12 percent of GDP, its worst annual contraction since the start of recording economic performance data, while foreign exchange reserves are rapidly declining.
The IMF statement issued today said that the conditions Argentina is going through “are exceptionally difficult and there are no easy solutions to them.”
The IMF welcomed the commitment of the Argentine authorities to ensure the stability of the economy and to adopt policies aimed at achieving more sustainable and inclusive growth.
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