An IMF spokesperson confirmed to Télam that the meeting between the “technical team” and Argentine officials for the fourth revision of the agreement, it has already begun in a “hybrid format” and will continue this week with the arrival of the delegation in Buenos Aires to advance in a face-to-face dialogue.
“Technical discussions on the fourth review of the program have begun in a hybrid format. A small technical team from the IMF is expected to visit Buenos Aires this week to continue these discussions, and this will be followed by a visit by the authorities to Washington , DC towards the end of the month to finish the technical work”said a spokesman for the agency.
One of the points that will be analyzed will be the fiscal deficit goal, which was exceeded, since a red of 2.4% of GDP was registered, slightly below 2.5% agreed with the multilateral organization for all of 2022.
Regarding the numbers released, the Ministry of Economy reported that in “December, the National Public Sector registered a primary deficit of $502,128.2 million. Thus, between January and December a primary deficit of $1,955,140.8 was accumulated.”
Looking ahead to this year, with a forecast goal of 1.9% of GDP in terms of the fiscal deficit, there are great challenges ahead for the administration of public accounts, affected, among other factors, by the drought that is punishing the countryside. , which is estimated to bring about US$10 billion less in export earnings.
“Continued decisive policy actions are starting to bear fruit. Against a more challenging external and domestic backdrop, determined policy implementation, including fiscal and monetary tightening, is leading to lower inflation as well as improvements in the trade balance and reserve coverage,” said the IMF’s first Deputy Managing Director and Acting President, Gita Gopinath, after the last revision that was made in September of last year.
The goals set in the program include a monetary issue ceiling to assist the Treasury with 0.6% of GDP ($883,000 million for the whole year) and, also, the obligation to accumulate US$5.5 billion in net reserves.
The Argentina Extended Facilities Agreement enables access to SDR 31.914 billion (equivalent to some US$ 44 billion, or around 1,000 percent of the quota) in 30 months, after its approval on March 25, 2022, to be delivered as a counterpart to the approval of quarterly goals set in the program.
Source: Ambito
