Minister of Economy , Serge Massawill head to Washington next week to participate in the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank and the G20 summit of economic ministers and heads of central banks.
The mission aims to strengthen support for continued progress on the roadmap for the stabilization of the Argentine economyenhancing reserves through more markets for national exports, and encouraging more productive investments in strategic sectors, such as energy, gas, agribusiness, proteins, knowledge-based services, and mining.
Massa arrives in the American capital, next Wednesday, on the twelfth of this month, the day when the G20 ministers meeting will be held.He said, last year before the Presidents’ Summit to be held in Bali, Indonesia, in mid-November blame Treasury Palace Fountains.
Later, The Board of Governors of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank will meet on Thursday the 13th and the following Friday, in addition to the meeting of the International Monetary and Financial Committee.as well as activities under the Development Committee.
The agenda also includes activities within the framework of the G20 such as the ministerial meeting and the closed meeting promoted by India, the country that will take over the G20 presidency next year.
Massa hopes to arrive in Washington with the second review of the program with the International Monetary Fund approved by the organization’s board of directors, because the Argentine case will be discussed on Friday in this field.
After approval of the Board of Directors, Funds worth 4.1 billion US dollars will be released immediately, which will continue to increase the reserves of the central bank.
The Board will discuss the second review and targets for the end of September “where full information is available”, given that the corresponding review for the quarter ending September, the third, will take place during this month, so it will start as follows once the organism assembly ends.
One of the goals where the fund already has the data and can be expected by evaluating the goals is the goal of reserves. This point and rationalization of spending occupied most of the second review meetings that took place in Washington last September with the senior staff of the economic team, which coincided with Sergio Massa’s first tour in the United States.
On that occasion, the point to save was that the second revision showed a red color in reserves of less than US$300 million, in relation to the agreed target.
however, IMF technicians have taken into account that there are delays in the funds promised by the Islamic Development Bankenvisaged in the program, and that if it was disbursed, the goal would have been achieved.
Specifically, during his tour, Massa received renewed support from the Islamic Development Bank, an entity that issued a statement declaring that it would unlock the promised funds and that it would increase payments, totaling A $3,000 million credit package, of which 1,200 million will be released before the end of 2022 and will be available free of charge..
Much of that money had an approval date of the end of September, according to the agency’s same statement, but the subsequent dismissal of Mauricio Claver Carone As head of the Islamic Development Bank, he has postponed the said agenda, so the agency’s board of directors is expected to meet soon – it could be Friday – with the Argentina case and give the green light.
With the new IDB package and foreign currency entered in September with the temporary implementation of soybean dollars, through which More than 8000 million US dollars of grain exports have been filteredAnd the Reserves grew by about 5 billion US dollarswhich allowed the government to exceed the target for the third quarter.
In this way, approval of the third revision, which has not yet begun, is also expected.
This third review will be handled by the IMF board at the end of November or the beginning of December, when the government expects to receive another 5.8 billion US dollars.if the remaining objectives committed to the organization that will be analyzed are approved.
Part of this money will be used to pay off maturities that Argentina has with the International Monetary Fund, from the program inherited from the Department of Mauricio Macri.
Minister’s activities in the United States
Massa’s agenda, which will be accompanied by his technical team headed by the Deputy Minister Gabriel RobsteinIt also includes meetings with economic authorities from South America and Mexico organized by Ilan GoldfinDirector of the International Monetary Fund’s Western Hemisphere Department, as well as a bilateral working session with Gita GopinathDeputy Director General of the International Monetary Fund.
It also includes bilateral meetings with Roger Ramirez de la O, Minister of Finance and Public Credit of Mexico; Noureddine NabatiTurkish Finance Minister. Nadia Calvino SantamariaDeputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation of Spain; Pascal Saint AmanChairman of the Finance Committee of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development; Paul GeddesBrazilian Minister of Economy; Paolo Gentilonithe European Union Commissioner for the Economy, powers from the European Investment Bank (EIB).
He will also participate in the discussion of Finance Ministers organized by the Islamic Development Bank within the framework of the 56th meeting of the Network of Central Banks and Ministries of Finance in Latin America and the Caribbean, in which they will also participate. Mario Marcel (Chilean Finance Minister), Jose Antonio Ocampo (Minister of Finance and Public Credit of Colombia), Rogelio Ramirez de la O (Minister of Finance and Public Credit of Mexico) and Lily Arbelici (Minister of Economy and Finance of Uruguay).
Finally, there will be a business meeting with representatives of the United States government and with CEOs of American companies with commercial and production investments in Argentina, organized by the Atlantic Council, one of the most influential think tanks at the global level.
