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ECONOMY | 24-06-2022 16:15

IMF's executive board approves first review of Argentina debt programme

Executive board of International Monetary Fund signs off on first quarterly review, approving Martín Guzmán figures for US$44.5-billion debt programme and paying way for new disbursement of funds.

The International Monetary Fund said Friday it has completed its first review of a huge loan programme agreed with Argentina and will now disburse US$4 billion.

The multilateral lender's Executive Board approved the first quarterly check on the US$44.5-billion debt programme, paving the way for the funds that will strengthen Argentina's Central Bank reserves.

"Against the backdrop of increased global uncertainties, the Executive Board assessed that all end-March 2022 and continuous performance criteria and indicative targets were met, and that initial progress was made on the structural front," the IMF said.

Under the deal struck in March – the 13th that Buenos Aires has signed with the IMF since the return of democracy in 1983 – repayments will be made from 2026 to 2034 after a grace period.

Approval had already been granted by the technical staff overseeing Argentina's Extended Fund Facility programme, headed by Julie Kozack, deputy director of the Western Hemisphere Department, and Luis Cubeddu, mission chief for Argentina.

"All quantitative programme targets for the first quarter of 2022 were met," the team concluded in its official report, which was submitted to the board on June 8.

In that document, the staff opened the door to adding flexibility to the intermediate targets of the 30-month credit programme, while maintaining existing annual targets.

Argentina is emerging from three years of recession and battling a high poverty rate and rising inflation, which hit 51 percent last year.
 

– TIMES/NA

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