BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Argentine Economy Minister Luis Caputo said on Wednesday that talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over a new debt program will begin shortly in comments to local broadcaster La Nacion+.
“We’re just going to start talking now,” Caputo said, stressing that the government has not sought out any private sector financing.
The minister added that he also expects the government to have achieved a fiscal surplus in April, once official budget data is released, after it did so during the first quarter.
Earlier this month, IMF staff and Argentine authorities reached a preliminary agreement to unlock $800 million in loans, following the better-than-expected government spending figures from the first three months of this year. The deal still needs to be approved by the IMF executive board.
Libertarian President Javier Milei took office last December, inheriting a major economic crisis marked by sky-high inflation and the steady deterioration of the local peso currency.
In April, the international lender said Argentina has met program targets with “important margins,” though imbalances remained.
(Reporting by Eliana Raszewski; Editing by Valentine Hilaire)
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