Xinhua News Agency, Washington, March 25 (Reporter Xu Yuan) The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a debt refinancing plan for Argentina on the 25th, which will provide Argentina with 31.914 billion special drawing rights over the next 30 months. , about $44 billion, to strengthen Argentina’s debt sustainability, help it cope with high inflation, fill social and infrastructure funding gaps, and drive inclusive growth.
According to a statement issued by the IMF Executive Board on the same day, the IMF will immediately pay Argentina 7 billion special drawing rights, or about 9.656 billion U.S. dollars, and the rest will be paid in batches over the next two and a half years.
IMF Managing Director Georgieva said in a statement that Argentina continues to face economic and social challenges such as falling per capita income, rising poverty levels, high inflation, a heavy debt burden and low external buffer capacity.
To this end, the Argentine government has formulated practical goals and policies to strengthen macroeconomic stability.
The IMF supports the Argentine government's fiscal reform efforts.
Georgieva said the debt refinancing plan will help strengthen Argentina's debt sustainability, help it cope with persistently high inflation, and strengthen external buffers.
At the same time, the plan will also help the Argentine government to improve the effectiveness and transparency of fiscal spending, improve the efficiency and sustainability of key industries.
Georgieva also pointed out that since the spillover effects of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict on the global economy have begun to emerge, the plan will face extremely high external risks.
Therefore, it is necessary for the IMF to detect problems in a timely manner and make adjustments to the plan in a timely manner.
In 2018, the IMF and the Argentine government signed a rescue agreement totaling about $57 billion.
Under the agreement, Argentina will pay about $19 billion this year.
Due to tight international reserves, Argentina is under pressure to default on its debt.
On January 29, Argentina and the IMF reached an agreement on a debt refinancing plan, which allowed Argentina to temporarily avoid a debt default.