The IMF says that the agreement with the bondholders is "a very significant step"

Paula Lugones

08/04/2020 - 14:11

• Clarín.com
• Economy
• Economy

The managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, congratulated President Alberto Fernández, Minister Martín Guzmán and creditors on having reached the agreement on Tuesday and said it was a "very significant" step .

In a tweet, the head of the agency said: "I congratulate the president @alferdez, the minister @Martin_M_Guzman and the most important creditor groups in Argentina for having reached an agreement in principle for the country's debt. A very significant step. We await a conclusion successful that is of interest to everyone. "

Although he always made it clear that he was looking at the negotiations from the outside, the Fund closely followed the restructuring process with the bondholders. Is that the agency granted Argentina, during the government of Mauricio Macri, the largest loan in the history of the agency, about 57,000 million dollars, of which 44,000 million were disbursed. And he has an interest in recovering what they owe him.

After the PASO in 2019 and the financial turmoil that followed, the payments stopped and the Fund declared the Argentine debt as "not sustainable", that is, it could not be paid given the delicate economic situation in our country.

To make it solvent, it also recommended an “appreciable contribution” ( or take away) from private creditors. The Government, under the IMF's eye, decided to advance its arrangement with the bondholders first (there were no significant maturities with the agency this year) and then restructure with the IMF.

Now that the debt with the private sector has been arranged, the government must move forward with the renegotiation of its obligations with the agency . You could negotiate a reprogramming of the current Stand by (which has short repayment terms) or agree a new program called Extended Facilities, which has longer terms (up to 10 years). To guarantee repayment in this more extended period, in this type of loan, the agency requires countries to carry out a series of structural reforms in the area of ​​retirement and pensions, labor, the capital market and transparency. To obtain it, the Government should be willing to accept these profound reforms.

Washington. Correspondent.