IMF: INFLATION FALLING ‘LITTLE FASTER THAN EXPECTED

Argentina’s inflation “is coming down a little faster than initially expected,” International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director Kristalina Georgieva said Thursday.

The remarks were the latest in a string of IMF praise for President Javier Milei’s government in recent weeks. They arrived hours before Economy Minister Luis Caputo met with Georgieva’s deputy, Gita Gopinath, in Washington for talks on Argentina’s Us$44.5-billion credit programme.

The multilateral lender has been vocal in its support for the new government since the libertarian leader’s arrival to office last December.

The IMF still expects inflation to exceed 150 percent this year, though it forecasts a considerable slowing in 2025. Despite high year-on-year inflation, price increases moderated for a third consecutive month in Argentina in March, reaching 11 percent, according to data from the INDEC national statistics bureau

Though many citizens are struggling to make ends meet, Georgieva seems satisfied with Milei’s fiscal adjustment. “Argentina, a country that has long been perceived as a laggard from the point of view of reforms, is now moving very quickly in adjusting fiscal spending, gaining the capacity of private investment,” she said during a press conference in Washington this week.

Nevertheless, both the IMF and the World Bank have warned the Milei government not to leave “the most vulnerable” behind. More than half of the population lives in poverty and social unrest is growing in response to fierce austerity and a wave of public sector lay-offs.