IMF boosts Argentina bailout package to $57 billion

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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreed on Wednesday to boost its crisis loan package aimed at restoring confidence in Argentina's struggling economy by 14 percent to 57.1 billion US dollars.

The agreement "will allow our country to leave behind the turbulent path of recent months," said Argentina's finance minister Nicolas Dujovne during a press conference with IMF managing director Christine Lagarde, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.

Lagarde said the aim of the program was to help Argentina "tackle the challenges it faces" and support the "most vulnerable people in society."

Argentina originally secured a 50-billion-US-dollar loan back in June, when an initial 15-billion-US-dollar tranche was handed over.

Argentine president Mauricio Macri. /VCG Photo

However, last month, President Mauricio Macri revealed he had asked for an accelerated disbursement of the remaining 35-billion-US-dollar tranche, with another three billion US dollars not due until November and the remainder over the next three years.

The new deal "front loads IMF financing," the Fund said in a statement, increasing by 19 billion US dollars the amount due to be made available up to the end of 2019: a total of 36.2 billion US dollars, according to Argentina's finance ministry.

The ministry said that part of the agreement, which needs to be approved by IMF's Executive Board, included a commitment to maintaining "spending on social assistance above 1.2 percent of gross domestic product" in order to "protect the most vulnerable sectors."

Source(s): AFP