IMF Says Will Send Mission To Argentina In Early October

The International Monetary Fund announced Thursday it will carry out a mission in early October on Argentina’s debt restructuring, after talks on a new accord resumed last month.

“The IMF staff team is currently working on plans to hold what we call a staff visit to Argentina, starting in early October,” said IMF spokesman Gerry Rice,

He called it a “milestone” but added it remained unclear whether the mission would be in-person or virtual due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“It will take time,” Rice said. “There is no fixed deadline to reach a conclusion.”

Argentina froze relations with the Washington-based crisis lender in 2006 after having paid back the bulk of its debt, but in 2018 former President Mauricio Macri reached Buenos Aires’s biggest-ever deal with the IMF.

After assuming the presidency last December, Macri’s successor as President Alberto Fernandez put repayments on hold and renounced outstanding tranches of the bailout, saying Argentina already had enough debt.

In August, Fernandez’s government reached a deal with three major creditor groups to restructure a $66 billion debt after months of strained negotiations and missed deadlines.

That agreement was a key step in allowing Argentina to negotiate a new agreement with the IMF.

AFP