The International Monetary Fund intends to discuss the first review of Argentina’s US$20-billion programme during an informal meeting between its staff and executive board on Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The meeting is expected to take place in Washington Tuesday morning, the person said, asking not to be named discussing private information. It’s a key step toward a staff-level agreement for the first review of the country’s current programme, Argentina’s third since 2018.
Pending staff agreement and board approval, Argentina would receive a US$2-billion disbursement from the IMF after the first review. The country received an immediate disbursement of US$12 billion in April, when the 48-month loan was approved.
The IMF’s press office declined to comment and Argentina’s Economy Ministry didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Argentine officials were in Washington in early July for technical talks over the first review of the programme. Before, a staff mission from the Fund visited Buenos Aires last month.
During an informal meeting, IMF staff working on a country’s programme usually brief the lender’s board of directors on the state of negotiations with government officials on a new programme or a review of an ongoing loan. Normally, the following step is to announce that IMF staff and the country reached an agreement, that then will be formally submitted to its board for approval.
Analysts in Buenos Aires have estimated that Argentina didn’t meet the June target in the Fund’s programme regarding accumulation of net reserves. Economy Minister Luis Caputo committed to getting the Central Bank’s stockpile above the target by the end of July as the Treasury buys dollars to the local market to be used as reserves.
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by Jorgelina do Rosario, Bloomberg
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