According to the Wall Street Journal on February 26, people familiar with the matter revealed that it is unlikely that the Argentine government will reach an agreement with the International Monetary Fund to repay $44 billion in debt before the country’s midterm elections in October, which will continue the economic uncertainty of South America’s second largest economy.
“Although both sides want to reach an agreement by May, Argentina has not held substantive discussions with the IMF on key issues so far, such as how the country plans to control out-of-control public spending to make government finances on a safer basis,” said a person familiar with the matter.
The person familiar with the matter said: “The negotiations have not reached the stage where an agreement will be reached in a few months, and little progress has been made.”
The report pointed out that Argentina has actually gone bankrupt, and only $5 billion in cash and gold reserves can be used to pay off its debts.
The country reached an agreement with private creditors last year to defer the repayment of $65 billion of debt, but if the country wants to re-enter the international bond market to finance, it must reach a separate agreement with the IMF.
