Buenos Aires (AFP)
The government of the new center-left Argentine President Alberto Fernandez announced on Wednesday that he has begun "talks" with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the country's debt, which he is struggling to repay.
"We have already had conversations with the IMF and there is recognition of the failure" of the loan program granted to Argentina in 2018, said the Minister of Economy Martin Guzman during its first press conference since his appointment on Tuesday. "What is needed is to recognize the need for a different program".
"In order not to have to make a sudden budgetary adjustment it is necessary to solve the problem of the debt.To pay, it is necessary to have capacities of payment, and for that the economy must recover from the top." We wish a constructive relation with all creditors, bondholders and the IMF, "continued Guzman.
The minister, a contributor to New York University's Nobel Prize-winning economics professor Joseph Stiglitz, has already been in favor of a two-year moratorium on paying interest on the public debt, via an agreement with creditors and a rescheduling of the repayment of the capital.
An IMF spokesman in Washington told AFP that Guzman had already met with Kristalina Georgieva, executive director of the institution.
Argentina had obtained a $ 57 billion three-year credit from the IMF in 2018, of which $ 44 billion had been drawn. President Alberto Fernandez has already announced that he will not request the payment of the last tranche of the loan, the terms of which have been negotiated by the government of his predecessor.
Argentina's total public debt stands at $ 315 billion, nearly 100% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP).
"We are coming to resolve a very deep economic and social crisis, the situation is extremely fragile," the minister said, announcing a "comprehensive macroeconomic plan" to turn the country around but did not provide details.
The IMF predicts for this year a 3.1% fall in Argentine GDP and an inflation of around 55%.
© 2019 AFP