(Reuters) – The executive board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) yesterday approved the disbursement of $7.5 billion for Argentina after completing the fifth and sixth reviews of their $44 billion programme, the IMF said.
Various economic targets included in the programne were eased, as in the fourth review, and waivers for non-observance were also in place, the IMF said.
Total disbursements under the arrangement are now about $36 billion, the fund said. Most of the cash is being used to pay back the fund for another programme.
IMF staff and Argentina had reached an agreement late in July, which had eased economic targets partly because a devastating drought has created a challenging environment for the grains exporter.
“The Executive Board assessed that key programme targets were missed through end-June 2023 on account of the historic drought along with policy slippages, requiring the approval of waivers of nonobservance,” the IMF said in a statement.
The reserve accumulation target and the primary fiscal balance and monetary financing of the deficit targets were also modified, the fund said, without providing details on the new targets.
Argentine Economy Minister Sergio Massa said in a press conference later yesterday that the new targets will be made public by the IMF on Friday.
Argentina’s net foreign exchange reserves were in the red ahead of the disbursement and the South American country agreed a $775 million loan with Qatar plus a $1 billion bridge loan from regional development bank CAF and $1.7 billion from a swap with China to make a payment to the IMF earlier this month.
Argentina plans to tap the disbursement to repay China part of that money.
The next programme review is scheduled for November, after the Oct. 22 first round presidential election vote. The disbursement is key for the center-left government coalition and its candidate, Massa, who said the new cash “guarantees a stability framework through the end of November.”
