Argentina is preparing to sign a new programme with the International Monetary Fund in 2020, Economy Minister Martín Guzmán said Thursday.
"We have been working in a very constructive way with the IMF. Argentina aims to have a new programme," Guzmán said during a meeting with international news agencies.
"It is something that is going to happen in the course of 2020," he assured reporters.
Argentina, then under former president Mauricio Macri, sealed an agreement with the IMF in 2018 for US$57 billion, of which it has received US$44 billion to date. But President Alberto Fernández decided upon taking office last December that the government would forgo pending tranches.
The government says that it has a "constructive" relationship with the multilateral organisation, which is supporting Argentina’s attempt to restructure more than US$65 billion in foreign debt.
Guzmán said that the new programme would focus on stabilising Argentina’s economy, which has been gripped by recession for two years. Any new agreement with the IMF would only be considered once the debt restructuring issue is resolved, the minister added, saying it would need the support of the population.
"With the IMF we all seek to look ahead. There is something that has already happened, [and] that did not work, and now we have to work to solve the problem," he added.
– TIMES/AFP
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