Argentina reached an agreement with the International Monetary Fund that will allow the country access to new financing, President Alberto Fernández said Friday.
“We suffered a problem and now we have a solution,” Fernandez said in a speech from the Olivos presidential residence on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. “We will be able to access new financing precisely because this agreement exists.”
The agreement will allow Argentina to “build a future” and doesn’t imply any “jump” in the value of the currency, Fernández said, without providing specifics of what was agreed with the Washington-based organisation.
The country’s US$16.1 billion in bonds due 2030 climbed 2.5 cents in early trading Friday to 33.2 cents on the dollar, the biggest one-day jump since the notes were issued. Argentina’s bonds due 2046 also climbed 2.9 cents to 31.1 cents on the dollar.
Argentina and the IMF have reached an understanding on when the nation will achieve a balanced primary budget, marking a first key step to renegotiating more than US$40 billion of debt, people familiar with the talks told Bloomberg News late Thursday. The parties have agreed for the country to reach a balanced primary budget – that is, without considering interest payments – in 2025, one of the people said.
Economy Minister Martín Guzmán is expected to give details of the understanding later on Friday. IMF staff was planning to brief the lender’s board of directors on the state of negotiations with Argentina in an informal virtual meeting on Friday morning, according to another person with direct knowledge of the matter.
by Jorgelina do Rosario, Bloomberg
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