Argentina reaches debt deal with IMF

Argentina has reached an agreement with the International Monetary Fund to refinance more than $40 billion in debt, President Alberto Fernandez has said.

"We had an unpayable debt that left us without a present or a future, and now we have a reasonable agreement that will allow us to grow and comply," Fernandez said on national television on Jan. 28.

Since 2020, Argentina has been in an arduous negotiation with the IMF to refinance the debt contracted in 2018 during the government of conservative Mauricio Macri in the midst of a currency crisis.

Argentina had spent three years trying to renegotiate repayment terms with the IMF and considered a deal vital to stabilizing an economy whose lengthy crisis has been hit as well by the pandemic.

The South American country was due to repay $19 billion this year, $20 billion next year and another $4 billion in 2024.

The IMF said it would continue to work with Argentina's officials "in the coming weeks towards reaching a Staff-Level Agreement. As is always the case, final agreement on a program arrangement would be subject to approval of the IMF's Executive Board."

With a long history of loan defaults, Argentina had insisted it wanted to honor its commitments this time but without sacrificing economic growth.

"Compared to previous ones Argentina signed, this deal does not include restrictions that would delay our development," said Fernandez.

The country remains mired in an economic crisis, with inflation at 50 percent and poverty over 40 percent.

Under the new deal, Argentina has committed to progressively reducing its fiscal deficit from 3 percent in 2021 to just 0.9 percent in 2024, Economy Minister Martin Guzman said.

The gradual reduction - to 2.5...