Argentina receives $42bn from int'l financial institutions

[Judi Lynn]

April 12, 2025 05:38 p.m



Argentina's President Javier Milei (center) announcing the new agreement with the IMF surrounded by the Secretary General of the Presidency Karina Milei (left), the Economy Minister Luis Caputo (second left), the National Security Minister Patricia Bullrich (second right), and Chief Cabinet Guillermo Francos at the Casa Rosada Presidential Palace in Buenos Aires. -- AFPArgentina's President Javier Milei (center) announcing the new agreement with the IMF surrounded by the Secretary General of the Presidency Karina Milei (left), the Economy Minister Luis Caputo (second left), the National Security Minister Patricia Bullrich (second right), and Chief Cabinet Guillermo Francos at the Casa Rosada Presidential Palace in Buenos Aires. -- AFP


WASHINGTON: Three international financial institutions announced $42 billion in fresh support for financially troubled Argentina on Friday, as its president said his country’s economy will grow “like never before.” The IMF approved a new four-year $20 billion bailout for the South American nation as the World Bank said it would pump $12 billion into the economy and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) announced plans for a $10 billion deal.

Some of the cash is expected to flow as soon as next week to help skint Argentina defend its wobbling peso currency, in a political boon for libertarian President Javier Milei’s aggressive efforts to revive the nation’s fortunes. “Argentina will be the country with the strongest economic growth for the coming 30 years,” the self-styled “anarcho-capitalist” leader said in a TV address, adding that the economy will grow “like never before.” Finance Minister Luis Caputo had earlier said that “within 60 days” Buenos Aires expects to receive $19 billion from the IMF, World Bank and other sources including the IDB.

That figure will include an “immediate” first tranche of $12 billion from the IMF, the institution’s board said in a statement. The program is “a vote of confidence in the Government’s determination to advance reforms, foster growth & deliver higher standards of living for the Argentine people,” IMF boss Kristalina Georgieva posted on X, hailing Milei’s “impressive progress in stabilizing the economy.”

For its part, the World Bank said $1.5 billion would be released to Argentina immediately. It is the 23rd time the IMF has bailed out Argentina since it became a member of the Washington-based institution in 1956. Caputo had earlier said that the IMF money would allow the “recapitalization of the Central Bank... and continue the disinflation process.”

More:
https://kuwaittimes.com/article/26401/business/argentina-receives-42bn-from-intl-financial-institutions/

[Judi Lynn]

1. Milei gains 'breathing room' from his ties with Trump

OPINION AND ANALYSIS | Today 11:54

The support President Milei has garnered from the Trump administration stands in stark contrast to the mounting challenges on the home front.


The announcement of the approval of Argentina’s new agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) came with a blemish — March’s consumer price index (CPI) showed an inflation rate of 3.7 percent, the highest figure in many months under the La Libertad Avanza administration to date.

Pablo Varela

Javier Milei arrived at the Casa Rosada at 3.40pm Friday, after calling a meeting with his Cabinet members to signal support for the agreement, which was set to be ratified by the IMF board. The President was already aware that the inflation figure would be poor.

That is why both the Casa Rosada and the President greeted the board's ratification of the deal with euphoria and relief. Faced with an increasingly complex domestic outlook — rising inflation and a shortage of foreign currency hitting Central Bank (BCRA) reserves — Milei’s government gained some breathing room through its ties with Donald Trump. At home, uncertainty continues to grow both economically and politically.

Trump’s strong backing of Milei was reflected in the support and ratification of Argentina’s extended fund facility (EFF) agreement. That support had come into question following the President’s aborted trip to Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s resort/residence in Florida, which saw irritation from both Milei and his sister, Presidential Chief-of-Staff Karina Milei, focused on Foreign Minister Gerardo Werthein.

Another major gesture of support from the Trump administration is the upcoming visit of US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who is scheduled to arrive in Argentina on Monday.

More:
https://www.batimes.com.ar/news/opinion-and-analysis/milei-gains-breathing-room-from-his-ties-with-trump.phtml



(Don't forget Argentina's Kissinger-supported military coup, and its "Dirty War" which they controlled while torturing, kidnapping, murdering and disappearing over 30,000 political dissidents, employing the grotesque "death flights" in which the military drugged and chained political prisoners and threw them out of airplanes over the Atlantic and large rivers. This included protesting grandmothers and a pair of protesting French nuns, whose bodies washed up upon the shore. They also sent spies into the population to locate more suspected dissidents.

Without a doubt this would sound heavenly to the orange occupant.)