IMF to consider US$20-billion Argentina deal in informal meeting

The International Monetary Fund intends to discuss a new loan for Argentina during an informal meeting between its staff and executive board next week in Washington, according to people familiar with the matter. 

The meeting, a key step toward a staff-level agreement for a new Argentina programme, will likely be on Tuesday, according to the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private. The IMF will discuss a four-year extended fund facility of about 15 billion special drawing rights, or nearly US$20 billion, the people said, adding that the final amount could change after talks with board members.  

During an informal meeting, IMF staff working on a program usually briefs the lender’s board of directors on the state of negotiations with the country that’s requesting assistance. Normally, the following step is to announce that IMF staff and the country reached an agreement that will be formally submitted to its board for approval.

Spokespeople for the IMF and Argentina’s Economy Ministry didn’t immediately reply to requests for comment.

The informal meeting comes after Argentina’s lower house of Congress voted in favour of President Javier Milei’s emergency executive decree backing a new deal with the Washington-based lender.