Press Release No. 21/371

IMF Team Statement on Argentina

December 10, 2021

Washington, DC: An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team, led by Julie Kozack, Deputy Director of the Western Hemisphere Department, and Luis Cubeddu, mission chief for Argentina, met on December 5-10 in Washington, D.C. with a technical delegation from the Ministry of Economy and Central Bank of the Republic of Argentina. The IMF mission team issued the following statement today at the conclusion of the meetings:

“The Argentine delegation and IMF staff advanced the technical work as part of their discussions of an IMF-supported program. The teams analyzed recent economic developments and discussed the outlook for growth, inflation, and Argentina’s balance of payments. The teams acknowledged the stronger-than-expected rebound in economic activity and investment this year, and the importance of a policy framework to durably sustain the economic recovery and improvements in social and employment conditions.

“In this regard, there were general understandings on the need to gradually and sustainably improve public finances, while allowing for much-needed infrastructure, technology, and targeted social spending. Tackling persistent high inflation requires a multipronged approach involving a reduction of monetary financing of the fiscal deficit, appropriate monetary policy with positive real interest rates, and wage-price coordination. This also needs to be supported by policies to build international reserves, including by encouraging foreign direct investment and exports, which grew very robustly this year, especially in value-added sectors. Progress was also made on steps to develop the domestic capital market, strengthen the effectiveness of public spending, and improve monetary policy operations. The teams agreed that broad support—both domestically in Argentina and within the international community—would also be critical to the overall success of the economic program.

“While further discussions are needed, the IMF team and the Argentine authorities remain fully committed to their collective work on a framework and policies for an IMF-supported program.”