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Economy The number two of the IMF began her mission in Argentina and today she will meet with Minister Luis Caputo - Infobae

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The number two of the IMF began her mission in Argentina and today she will meet with Minister Luis Caputo - Infobae


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Source:


February 21, 2024

The deputy managing director Gita Gopinath will have an agenda between today and tomorrow that will also include a meeting with president Javier Milei. The presidential spokesperson denied that the talks include a new devaluation

By Mariano Boettner

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The delegation of the International Monetary Fund led in Buenos Aires by the deputy managing director Gita Gopinath will meet this afternoon with the Minister of Economy Luis Caputo in its first activity on the agenda in the Argentine capital, in a mission that will mark the continuity of the relationship that the Javier Milei 's government returned to the organization after the transfer of command.

https://www.infobae.com/economia/20...con-javier-milei-y-que-se-sabe-del-encuentro/
Presidential spokesperson Manuel Adorni reported that the agenda of the high authority of the IMF will include a meeting this Wednesday with the head of the Treasury Palace. Official sources consulted by Infobae confirmed that it will be this afternoon. Gopinath will arrive with a large delegation that will include the deputy director of the Western Hemisphere Department and the head of the Argentine mission to the Fund's board of directors. Adorni also ruled out that part of the conversations revolve around a new devaluation of the official exchange rate.

A little less than a month ago, the Milei Government obtained the approval of a disbursement of USD 4.7 billion after the seventh technical review that also took place in Buenos Aires. The Ministry of Economy and the Central Bank agreed on a new scheme of fiscal deficit and reserve accumulation goals and the Monetary Fund supported Caputo's economic plan.

“The First Deputy Managing Director of the IMF, Gita Gopinath , arrived today in Buenos Aires where she will hold meetings with President Milei, his economic team, academics, civil society, businessmen and workers. Gopinath is accompanied by Luis Cubeddu , deputy director of the Western Hemisphere Department, Ashvin Ahuja , head of IMF mission for Argentina, Ben Kelmanson , senior resident representative of the IMF in Argentina and Matthew Jones , senior advisor to the First Deputy Managing Director," they mentioned from the Monetary Fund.

Gopinath will arrive with a large delegation that will include the deputy director of the Western Hemisphere Department and the head of the Argentine mission to the Fund's board of directors.

The IMF hopes to learn first-hand how the implementation of the libertarian government's economic program continues , just at a time when it is going through the worst moment in terms of impact on activity and wages, and with a level of union conflict and social tension. that threatens to worsen. “It is quite a message that the IMF 2 comes to Buenos Aires, it has no negative meaning,” a source from the economic team assured Infobae .
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Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the IMF, with Javier Milei at the Davos Forum
Caputo will receive the deputy managing director of the IMF with a team that will be made up of his Finance Secretary Pablo Quirno and the Argentine director of the Montario Fund, who works in Washington but is spending these days in Buenos Aires, Leonardo Madcur . The president of the Central Bank Santiago Bausili will also hold meetings with the organization's envoys, this media learned.

The recalibration carried out between the technical staff and the Ministry of Economy together with the Central Bank moved the objectives towards a marked primary surplus and a foreign exchange accumulation of about USD 10,000 million.

So far during Milei's mandate, gross reserves have grown from USD 21.2 billion at the time of the change of Government to surpass USD 27 billion this Tuesday . The numbers reported by the market indicate that at this point, with six weeks left until the cut-off date of the first quarter, the BCRA has already accumulated reserves according to the first goal of the year, which is USD 6,000 million. From now on you will have to sustain it until the end of March.

The recalibration carried out between the technical staff and the Ministry of Economy together with the Central Bank moved the objectives towards a marked primary surplus and a foreign exchange accumulation of about USD 10,000 million

The other goal that the Ministry of Economy can show Gopinath is the progress of fiscal adjustment . It is, according to the calculations of the agency's technicians, one of the most aggressive fiscal corrections globally in the last thirty years. 2024 should end with a favorable balance of 2.8 trillion pesos. In January alone, the Ministry of Finance already managed to show 2 billion surpluses before paying debt interest. This would imply, as a calculation by the consulting firm PxQ showed, that there would even be room to reduce the surplus by just over 1 trillion pesos without moving away from the goal .

Beyond the progress of the program, the Monetary Fund raised in its document and in conversations with market actors the concerns it has about the economic program, which in general terms it supported. The impact and social viability of the adjustment plan is part of the main concerns of the Monetary Fund authorities about the future of the Government program. In Washington they fear that there could be much greater social tension and insisted to Argentine officials that they must reinforce social assistance allocations to mitigate it.
 
The IMF must be VERY happy with President Milei. I read about it's first budget surplus in many years.
 
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