Argentinian economy minister heads to IMF talks amid debt crisis
Buenos Aires — Argentina’s economy minister, Dujovne Nicolas, heads to Washington on Monday for a hastily revised loan deal with the IMF to help revive South America’s second-largest economy. Dujovne will need to outline a convincing austerity programme to restore investor confidence, which has plummeted along with the nation’s currency, analysts say. The minister said at the weekend his mission is to "continue to progress" talks with the IMF "on additional disbursements in 2019". The talks, scheduled for Tuesday, follow a surprise announcement by President Mauricio Macri last week that Argentina will seek faster disbursement of its $50bn credit line with the IMF. That set off alarm bells among investors, who are concerned Argentina will default on government borrowing, and triggered a run on the peso, which plunged 20% in two days before recovering slightly by Friday’s close. The currency has lost half its value against the dollar since January.
A first $15bn tranche of the l...
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