Mary Church
06/10/2020 - 6:01
Clarín.com
Economy
After the formal request at the end of August to begin negotiations to refinance the debt with the International Monetary Fund, the Government
begins to exchange this Tuesday with the IMF what form the new program that Argentina
signs with the organization may take.
It will take place once the meetings between Argentine officials and the two IMF technicians who arrive in Buenos Aires this Tuesday begin.
They are Julie Kozack, number two in the Western Hemisphere Department, and Luis Cubeddu, the leader of the agency's mission for Argentina.
This IMF trip is for both Kozack and Cubeddu to
know first-hand how the Argentine situation is.
That is why the agenda that they will maintain during the mission also includes
opposition legislators, as well as meetings with the UIA and the CGT.
Although the details of both meetings still remained to be finalized, between Wednesday and Thursday the meetings will be held both with the industrial leadership and with the union sector.
A source from the UIA said that there are several axes that will be addressed in the
meeting that will take place on Thursday with Kozack, Cubeddu and with the IMF representative in Argentina, Trevor Alleyne.
“We are going to tell you what is happening in the industry, after the impact of the coronavirus.
Also that with
high pressure in Argentina it is not possible to increase production,
so it is necessary to expand the tax base, "they mentioned from the UIA in dialogue with this newspaper.
In addition to the axis on tax issues, they consider that the competitiveness agenda is another of the edges to be addressed, as well as access to credit.
"Hopefully there will soon be an agreement to
clear up the financial uncertainty that exists in Argentina, which is high," they
assured.
With regard to the meeting that will take place with the CGT, union sources said that they will insist on asking them for a flexible position for the renegotiation of the debt with the organization itself,
"that allows Argentina to implement policies for the reactivation of labor and production in the country."
"If there are adjustments, they
do not fall on the working classes
or the most vulnerable sectors," they said, in addition to reiterating their opposition to possible "structural reforms" such as labor.
The negotiation with the IMF, although its main objective is to obtain funds to repay the previous loan, it will also be key so that the path that is defined with the organization reduces uncertainty in the market.
In fact, Alberto Fernández mentioned on Sunday in a dialogue he had with
Clarín
that a
program with the IMF "clears up many doubts, that I do not have them but that some sectors of the economy do."
The reason is that once one of the types of loan that Argentina could access is signed, quantitative and qualitative goals are established.
In order to receive the disbursements from the agency (which is with the resources that the previous loan will be paid), it is necessary to comply with them.
Between 2018 and 2019 Argentina received a
total of US $ 44,000 million from the stand-by loan agreed during the Government of Mauricio Macri.
What the economic team, led by Martín Guzmán, is looking for now is to refinance those maturities.
In order to do so, a new loan must be agreed so that, with that credit, the previous one must be paid.
The options that the country could get is a new stand-by (a three-year program, with quarterly goals) or one of extended facilities, which is for a longer term but with more demanding requirements, such as structural reforms.
