IMF Has ‘Fruitful Exchange’ With Argentina on Path Forward

(Bloomberg) -- Argentina Economy Minister Martin Guzman and Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, discussed plans for a “secure and orderly resolution” of Argentina’s debt situation, the IMF said on Saturday.

The conversation on the sidelines of the Group of 20 meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, also touched on ways to secure more sustainable and inclusive growth for the South American nation, the fund said in a statement.

Argentina will allow the IMF to conduct an Article IV review, a preliminary step that could eventually allow for a new program with the IMF, the country’s economy ministry said in a separate statement.

Investors have been alert to developments this week since the organization said creditors would need to make a “meaningful contribution” to lighten the nation’s staggering debt load.

In its most recent review, the IMF called Argentina’s debt burden unsustainable and said fiscal adjustment by the government would on its own be insufficient. That effectively gave the nation a seal of approval to hit bondholders with a significant haircut. The country has lost more than a third of its international reserves since July and had installed draconian capital controls.

Annual Review

The Article IV consultation is an annual review process wherein a team of IMF economists visits a country to assess economic and financial conditions.

Former President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner refused to undergo the assessment while in office, but her successor, Mauricio Macri, agreed to resume the process in 2016. Fernandez de Kirchner now serves as vice president to President vp to President Alberto Fernandez, who took office in December.

Following the G-20 meeting, Guzman will travel to Washington and hold meetings with IMF staff on Feb. 24, according to an official from Argentina’s economy ministry.

Argentina’s record IMF loan of $56 billion, of which $44 billion has been disbursed since 2018, has been on hold since August after Fernandez pulled off a shock upset of Macri in the nation’s presidential vote, sending markets reeling.

Georgieva on Saturday praised Fernandez’s efforts to “put in place a set of policies to stabilize the economy and reduce poverty.”

--With assistance from Jorgelina do Rosario and Justin Villamil.

To contact the reporter on this story: Benjamin Harvey in Istanbul at bharvey11@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Rosalind Mathieson at rmathieson3@bloomberg.net, Ros Krasny, James Ludden

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