IMF to re-open office in BA, six years after leaving Argentina

TheInternational Monetary Fund has announced that Jamaican economist Trevor Alleyne will be the institution’s representative in Argentina, after confirming it had decided to re-open an office in Buenos Aires, six years after leaving.

The decision comes after Buenos Aires reached a deal with the IMF on money supply, interest rates and an exchange rate framework. In exchange for these measures, the Fund agreed to speed up disbursements from the US$57.1-billion loan granted in June to Latin America’s third-largest economy.

However, the deal is still yet to be reviewed by the IMF’s executive board. The institution announced on Thursday that its members would meet October 26 to assess the deal.

Argentina has promised to reach a fiscal deficit of zero by the end of next year, as well as restricting its interventions into the currency markets. The IMF predicts Argentina’s economy will contract by 2.6 percent this year, amid ongoing economic turbulence.

Alleyne, an IMF staffer since 1992 with more than a quarter of a century’s experience with the organisation, will be the Fund’s representative in Buenos Aires. He has previously overseen IMF missions in countries such as Nigeria, Zambia, Jamaica, Peru, Venezuela and Ecuador.

According to the Noticias Argentinas news agency, Alleyne will serve as the Fund’s “resident representative” in Argentina, becoming the first point of contact between the IMF and the Argentine government’s economic team. He will arrive in the country toward the end of November, when the office will be opened. Its location is yet to be confirmed but IMF officials and representatives in Argentina will, at least for now, be based inside an office at the Central Bank, the government confirmed this week.

The institution has offices in around 70 countries across the globe.