Argentina, IMF agree on accelerated loan payout

Buenos Aires, Aug. 30: Argentina’s President Mauricio Macri said on Wednesday that the International Monetary Fund has agreed to accelerate funding in support of his government’s austerity programme, but the move did little to calm the market as the country’s currency came under renewed pressure.

IMF chief Christine Lagarde said the Washington- based lender would look at speeding up payments of the bank’s $ 50 billion loan after talks with Macri earlier on Wednesday.

The IMF approved the $ 50 billion, three- year standby loan in June.

Lagarde said the IMF would work to strengthen its arrangement with Argentina and “re- examine the phasing of the financial programme”.

The “more adverse international market conditions” battering Argentina’s economy “had not been fully anticipated,” she admitted in a statement.

Macri called for the early release of the funds in a phone call with Lagarde on Wednesday.

It came amid heightened volatility in Argentina’s financial and currency markets, which have been battered by uncertainty over inflation, an economic downturn and budget deficits.

The Argentine peso has lost more than 40 per cent of its value against the dollar this year. Inflation is projected to surpass 30 per cent by the end of 2018. The peso continued its decline on Wednesday, plummeting 6.99 per cent through the day to fall to 34.48 to the dollar by the close. Macri had sought to soothe the turbulence in a statement before markets opened, assuring Argentines that help is on the way.