Paula Lugones
02/27/2020 - 12:40
- Clarín.com
- Politics
The International Monetary Fund said Thursday that with Argentina "there are no negotiations, only discussions for now" and that there are still no details about the mission of Article IV that should travel to our country soon to review the accounts.
At a press conference in Washington, the agency's director of communications, Gerry Rice, said the talks between Argentine officials and those of the Fund are "very active and constructive," but did not advance on what aspects they discussed when they met on Monday. Past in this capital.
"We have no more information on Monday's discussions, nor the modalities of Article IV," he said. "The steps are going to be discussed" for that mission.
On Monday the minister was at the IMF headquarters on 19th Street, along with the Argentine representative before the agency, Sergio Chodos, where he met with the deputy director of the Department of the Western Hemisphere, Julie Kozack, and the head of mission for Argentina , Luis Cubeddu. As said then, they talked about the sustainability of the debt and continued the talks on the loan of 57,000 million dollars (44,000 delivered) that the agency granted to our country during the presidency of Mauricio Macri and that now is not in a position to pay , as recognized by the Fund itself.
While the spokesman said "there is a mutual understanding," he stressed, however, that these contacts are "not negotiations, just discussions for now" about the particular program. He also noted that the decision to send an Article IV mission to Argentina is a "valuable step."
This chapter of the agency's charter establishes that all member countries should receive a periodic visit of a field mission to assess the state of the economy. During much of Kirchnerism they were suspended because the Government said that it had no debts with the IMF and the agency did not consider statistics reliable. During the summit in Saudi Arabia last week, the Fund's managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, announced after meeting with Guzman that a mission to Argentina would go.
It is estimated that the review of the accounts would at this time give a sign of confidence to private creditors, who expect to know in detail the health of the economy to accept a renegotiation. The announcement of the mission, plus the consideration that Argentina's debt is not sustainable, are considered rather "political" signals.
The bondholders wanted the Government to renegotiate its standby program first with the Fund and then with the private ones. It would be a way to guarantee payment. But this is already ruled out. The Fund asked the bondholders for an “appreciable contribution” (read out) so that they are the ones who first make the effort. For now, the IMF talks, does not negotiate.