IMF Cannot Offer Argentina a Haircut on Loan, Georgieva Says
IMF Cannot Offer Argentina a Haircut on Loan, Georgieva Says
(Bloomberg) -- The International Monetary Fund, as the lender of last resort, won’t offer a haircut on its Argentina loan after Vice President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner called on the institution to take a loss.
“Our legal construct is such that we cannot do measures that may be possible for others without this big global responsibility,” Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said Sunday in a Bloomberg Television interview in Dubai.
An IMF technical mission is in Buenos Aires through Feb. 19 to meet with Argentina officials and assess the country’s debt sustainability. Talks with the IMF, to which Argentina owes $44 billion, will be key for an even bigger negotiation with bondholders to avoid a default.
“We do understand the necessity to look at the debt burden carefully -- it is the job of the government, not the IMF,” Georgieva said when asked about the “deep debt restructuring” posed by Economy Minister Martin Guzman.
More time is needed to obtain data on the country’s debt sustainability, Georgieva said. The IMF continues to back Alberto Fernandez’s government in its efforts to resume economic growth, she said.
“Broadly speaking, we are very supportive of the commitment of this government to stabilize the economy, return to growth,” Georgieva said.
Members of the Productive Development Ministry held meetings with the mission on Feb. 13 that were “mostly informative in nature”, Minister Matias Kulfas told reporters in Buenos Aires Monday. IMF officials asked for details on a so-called social pact the government is advocating to tame inflation, which includes food and utility price freezes.
“We explained that in our view, inflation has many causes,” Kulfas said. “Focusing on tackling inflation only through monetary policy leads to mistakes. We can control inflation with a consistent macro, fiscal and monetary plan.”
--With assistance from Yousef Gamal El-Din, Giovanni Prati and Jorgelina do Rosario.
To contact the reporters on this story: Jose Orozco in Mexico City at jorozco8@bloomberg.net;Abeer Abu Omar in Dubai at aabuomar@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ney Hayashi at ncruz4@bloomberg.net, Virginia Van Natta
©2020 Bloomberg L.P.