ARGENTINA

On March 10, the Chamber of Deputies began to debate against the bill that seeks to support the agreement with the IMF. It is expected that the day will last until the early morning of Friday, March 11. It should be noted that the bill seeks to empower the Executive Branch to access credit with the International Monetary Fund.

The agreement put under discussion involves refinancing the commitments assumed under the 2018 Stand By program that presented maturities concentrated mainly in the years 2022 and 2023. It is based on what is known as the IMF Extended Facility (Extended Facilities Agreement) which includes 10 reviews to be carried out on a quarterly basis for two and a half years. 

The first disbursement will be made upon approval of the program by the IMF Board. The remaining disbursements will be made after the completion of each review. Each of the agreed disbursements will begin to be paid four and a half years after they occur in 12 equal semi-annual installments, ending in 2034. The first of these payments would occur in the second half of 2026.

During the debate in the Chamber of Deputies, when presenting the agreement, Representative Carlos Heller (Frente de Todos) pointed out that the agreement does not contemplate social security and labor reforms. Furthermore, regarding the exchange rate, he remarked that “the proposal that is being worked on does not foresee any kind of abrupt variations in the exchange rate”. Regarding inflation, he remarked that in the agreement “there are no inflation targets, there are estimates that place it between 38% and 48% for this year, for the following years between 34% and 42% for 2023, and 29% to 27% for 2024. About 5% reduction per year, a very achievable goal”.