The Chamber of Deputies of Argentina is about to vote on an agreement to restructure its $45 billion debt with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in a session installed this Thursday that precedes the treatment of the project according to the Senate.
The credit program will serve to refinance the stand-by agreement granted in 2018 to Argentina during the government of the liberal Mauricio Macri, which contemplates maturities for some 19,000 million dollars this year and another 20,000 million in 2023.
“This is the best refinancing agreement that could be achieved,” said deputy Carlos Heller, of the pro-government Frente de Todos. A rejection of this project “would lead us into serious problems that we must avoid at all costs,” he added.
The parliamentary session is scheduled to last until after midnight.
The new program of extended facilities lengthens payment terms, provides for 10 quarterly reviews and a grace period of four years. Payments must be made from 2026 to 2034.
To enter into force, this agreement reached by the government of Alberto Fernandez (center-left) and the staff of the IMF It must be ratified by the Argentine parliament and by the board of directors of the international organization.
Although the program generates reluctance in a sector of the Front of All and also in the opposition coalition Together for Change, it is expected that the deputies will vote mostly in favor.
“We are a coalition that has a different perspective on how to solve the economic and social problems of the country. The program is an exclusive competence of the Executive, and we consider that it is a program that does not solve the problems of decline that the country is dragging,” he said. Together for Change in a statement.
Left-wing groups and social movements went to the outskirts of Congress to protest the agreement with the IMF. Some of the demonstrators burned rubbish and threw stones towards the entrance esplanade of the parliament.
Once the agreement is ratifiedArgentina It will receive a first disbursement of some 9.8 billion dollars that will serve to pay a maturity of 2.9 billion dollars scheduled between March 20 and 22 and also to reinforce its international reserves.
international reserves of Argentina they are 37.3 billion dollars, but liquid assets are at critical levels.
The vice president of the Central Bank, Jorge Carrera, said this Thursday: “If the agreement is not approved in Congress, we are in trouble. Argentina cannot pay the March expiration date” of the current program with the financial institution.
The program, rated by the IMF as “pragmatic and realistic”, it commits Argentina to reduce its fiscal deficit from the current 3% of GDP to 0.9% in 2024.
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