Argentina president announces new debt deal with IMF

Argentina president announces new debt deal with IMF

BEUNOS AIRES: Argentine President Alberto Fernandez unveiled what he called a “reasonable” new debt repayment deal with the International Monetary Fund on Friday, the day a $700-million repayment was due. The South American country was due this year to pay back $19 billion of its $44-billion debt to the IMF. With a long history of loan defaults, Argentina had insisted it wanted to honor its commitments this time but without sacrificing economic growth. “Compared to previous ones Argentina signed, this deal does not include restrictions that would delay our development,” said Fernandez. Under the previous deal, Argentina would have had to repay $19 billion this year, $20 billion next year and another $4 billion in 2024.

As well as Friday’s sum, another $370 million needed to be paid on Tuesday. IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva said she was “encouraged by today’s progress… on reaching an understanding on key policies … to tackle current challenges such as inflation and secure more inclusive & sustainable growth for the Argentine people.” The center-left government had repeatedly said the repayment schedule was unsustainable given their lack of reserves, and was pushing to restructure the timetable.

“We had an unpayable debt that left us without present or