By the way, and whenever the state of health permits, the president He plans to travel to France in June to meet his French counterpart.
After renegotiating debt with private-sector bondholders, the state liquidated its short-term maturities with these creditors. However, there will be this year Debt maturity with international credit organizations of more than US $ 10 billion (5.1 billion with the IMF, 2,400 million with Paris Club And 2,900 million with the rest of the organizations).
Faced with these obligations, Argentina faces a situation Reserve shortage That makes payments difficult. The net reserves of the central bank are about $ 4000 million, according to various estimates by private sector advisors.
Two of the good news was Government this week. On this particular issue On Wednesday, the President held an interview with World Bank President David Malpass He confirmed that the entity would finance projects in the country at an amount of $ 2000 million.
On the other hand, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund said, Kristalina GeorgievaAnd the She announced that the organization is considering expanding its capital by $ 650,000 million (Special Drawing Rights (SDRs)).. In practical terms, this would make it possible Income in excess of US $ 4,355 million of the country’s foreign exchange reserves.
This news was greeted with satisfaction at Casa Rosada, but it is served Time problem. The SDR expansion will be analyzed by the fund’s board only in June, after which it must be approved by the majority of the member states.
In other words, this boost in the country’s foreign reserves will take place after the end of the payment to the Paris Club, and hence the aspiration for the extension.
No contradictions
“Alberto and Christina meet at least once a week and talk all the time,” Confirmed to Domain Important collaborator from the president.
Both the President and Vice President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner agree on a strategy for negotiating external debt. Exactly this Wednesday, the Vice President indicated, regarding the negotiations with the International Monetary Fund, that “We must make an effort, the ruling party and the opposition, to give us a longer term and another interest rate on a debt contracted by others.”
The President and Vice President agree that Argentina must have longer-term interest rates and lower interest rates to fulfill its obligations, especially in the context of the pandemic emergency. They also insist that this is a debt that this government has not taken on.
Anyway, get an extension of your payment terms to the IMF It is not an easy task. The Agency has structured its loans for a maximum period of 10 years (Extended Facility Program). The decision in this sense should originate from the political action of the member states, then be studied and approved by the technical staff and approved by the member states in general, because the IMF does not provide loans allocated to the applicants.
This Wednesday’s decision Argentina leaving the Lima Group (created to search for a peaceful solution to the crisis in Venezuela), The decision, which some sectors have interpreted as a departure from the interests of the United States. The government denies this narrative and they limit themselves to reference “This group has long since ceased to function.”
“The important thing to keep in mind is that Guzmán works closely and in coordination with Alberto (Fernandez) “They keep it in Casa Rosada. In other words, the economy minister is aware of the president’s decisions affecting his administration, and they confirm that there are no differences on how to negotiate external debt.
In a presidential environment they are eligible “positive” Conversations that the President of Palacio de Hacienda had with Giorgieva, and add (without giving details) that ‘All objectives have been achieved’ That was on the agenda for that meeting.
Meanwhile, sources in Washington confirmed that Secretary Guzmán said this rudely at the meeting “The political situation in Argentina makes it difficult to agree to a program that does not include the long term.”.
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