Argentina urges IMF to renegotiate terms of debt | Economy



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In video, Hernán Lacunza, Argentine Minister of the Economy. REUTERS

Argentina reaches the limit. Finance Minister Hernán Lacunza on Wednesday afternoon called on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and all its institutional creditors to postpone the repayment of their debt, in pesos and dollars, for "liquidity difficulties". It was the auction of a new dark day, with the city of Buenos Aires being blocked by protests and the turbulent financial markets. With a dollar higher than 60 pesos, the Central Bank was forced to adopt emergency measures to limit the depreciation of the currency: it limited the financing in pesos to large exporting companies, to force them to sell currencies.

Shortly after the Argentinian executive appealed for debt renegotiation, the IMF announced in a statement that it would remain on the South American side "in these difficult times". "With regard to the operation announced by the Argentinian authorities, the staff of the Fund is badyzing them and badessing their impact … and understands that the authorities have taken these important steps to respond to the liquidity needs and to safeguard reservations. "

Lacunza said that Argentina was still solvent, but acknowledged that he had no money. "The greatest political and economic tension" since the primary elections, during which the Peronist candidate Alberto Fernández defeated, "has affected exchange rate stability," the minister said. From then on, the debt renewal rate, which was close to 78%, "dropped sharply to less than 10%, reflecting the lack of investor interest," the minister said. The portfolio holder has announced a bill to Congress to promote the voluntary extension of local debt maturities and ensured that all these measures would only affect institutional creditors, not small savers, who cashed in the premises. Expected date and no discount.

The request for help made by the Argentine government was the result of a double crisis, political and economic. After the hard defeat of the government in the primary elections with no other value than purely indicative, it was almost certain that the next president would be Peronist Alberto Fernández. This left Mauricio Macri in a very delicate situation. Macri does not exist, but the powerlessness of the government in a painful and multifaceted situation is very noticeable.

The tension of those who are horrified at the return of Kirchnerism and the general difficulties of citizens, burdened by runaway inflation (still over 50% per year) and by an unemployment rate of over 10%, add the lack of confidence of investors and the general feeling that the situation can only worsen in the near future.

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