TEHRAN, September 05 - Argentina "made progress" on Tuesday in talks with the International Monetary Fund aimed at securing an accelerated disbursement of a $50 million loan it hopes will calm its debilitating economic crisis.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said she and Argentina's Finance Minister Nicolas Dujovne held "discussions about how the Fund can best support Argentina in the face of renewed financial volatility and a challenging economic environment."
Lagarde said talks would continue on Wednesday, aiming to reach "a rapid conclusion to present a proposal to the IMF Executive Board."
Dujovne said it was too early to "give figures when we're in the middle of discussions with authorities."
Earlier, US President Donald Trump expressed "strong support" for Argentina, whose President Mauricio Macri has announced plans to slash the country's bureaucracy and raise taxes on exports to calm battered financial and currency markets and get the economy back on an even keel.
"I have confidence in President Macri's leadership, and I strongly encourage and support his engagement with the International Monetary Fund to strengthen Argentina's monetary and fiscal policies to tackle the country's current economic challenges," Trump said in a statement after speaking with Macri.
The peso has lost half its value against the dollar this year, hampering government efforts to get inflation under control. Argentina has already used a first $15 billion tranche of the three-year line of credit agreed in June, mainly to prop up its currency.
Source: AFP
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