IMF: another negotiation begins | IMF, Guido Sandleris, Change

Sandleris and the rest of the officials will leave tomorrow night, waiting for a day of official meetings that all delegations will hold in the North American capital. The intention of the President of the BCRA will be to accelerate the discussions that will remain with Lagarde, the Director General of the Western Hemisphere Alejandro Werner and, of course, Cardarelli; so that when the summit is in full swing (Friday and Saturday), there will be no open discussions with the country. Or that the main agenda focuses on the points that the IMF has found positive in its review of local accounts: the evolution of monetary policy of the BCRA, the tools available to the entity to deal with to a currency exchange in the second quarter of the year, the possible growth of the economy since March and the close proximity to achieve the zero deficit. The problem that they know that Argentine officials will find will lie in the "disappointing" chapters, according to the message that Cardarelli himself left in writing to the members of the board of directors, and which was read to high voice on Friday. They are worried punctually for the lack of reaction that they see in the fight against inflation and the negative evolution of the relationship between income and expenditure. Acting on these, and although Cardarelli does not speak of any tax with first and last name, the IMF has estimated that, if the collection continues below inflationary levels; The government should think about a type of tax burden. Or, failing that, the largest contraction in spending levels. What Sandleris and the rest of the officials want to hear again from the IMF is that it is impossible, in the current political context, to think about the application of a stronger tax burden. They will try to convince Lagarde and the men of Washington; to wait for the period June-August, to verify the evolution of the incomes and the expenses and to note that with the long-awaited improvement of the economic activity, the tax revenues also evolve in a favorable way. And if that fails, they will ask Lagarde a political solution to the debate: that IMF leaders understand that under the current circumstances, it is impossible for the government to implement what the agency claims; but that after a victory of macrismo will be the first thing to discuss. Parallel to the IMF's chronic demands to implement reforms

One of the most important moments of the event that begins this week in Washington will be Thursday, when the IMF releases its traditional "World Economic Outlook" report, in which each country will have a specially drafted chapter. for this purpose, and where States will compete. who have better or worse results Always according to fund badysis. Obviously, a bad image is expected for Argentina. The hope is that in the recitals, the body members will be condescending.

Last Friday, the IMF approved the disbursement of US $ 10,800 million for Argentina, following the third revision of the confirmation agreement in force since June 20, 2018, all by warning against inflation levels. "The policies of the authorities supporting the IMF-supported agreement are bearing fruit," warned, however, "However, inflation remains high; inflationary expectations are rising and inflationary inertia is difficult to achieve." to break ".

Lagarde said on this occasion that "the policies of the authorities that support the agreement supported by the IMF are bearing fruit." "High budget and current account deficits – two major vulnerabilities that led to the financial crisis last year – are decreasing." Economic activity has contracted in 2018, but some signs indicate that the recession is at a low and a gradual recovery is expected over the next quarters, "said Lagarde in a statement.