Buenos Aires (Argentina) (AFP) – International Monetary Fund managing director Kristalina Georgieva on Monday hailed Argentina’s improved economic standing since ultraliberal President Javier Milei took power in 2023. The IMF boss was visiting top debtor Argentina to meet with Milei, for whom the Washington-based institution has repeatedly voiced support since he took office. “What we have today, by all indicators, is a much sounder picture” since 2023, Georgieva told a joint press conference with Argentine Economy Minister Luis Caputo.
Milei campaigned on a pledge to revive the economy by slashing public spending and reining in inflation, but the austerity measures imposed by his government have been deeply unpopular, prompting frequent protests. Georgieva said Argentina’s “much stronger position…is a result of the hard work of the government,” as well as “the sacrifice of the Argentine people.”
Caputo later told reporters that Georgieva “had a very good meeting with President” Milei. “She was extremely enthusiastic in offering her congratulations throughout,” he said, adding that she had also met with Milei’s cabinet ministers. During her two-day trip, Georgieva has more meetings scheduled with Argentina’s central bank chief Santiago Bausili and experts from the business world and academia. On Tuesday, she is expected to visit Vaca Muerta, a vast oil and gas production site that is key to Argentina’s export economy, located about 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) from Buenos Aires.
– ‘Take stock’ – IMF spokesperson Julie Kozack said the visit marked “an opportune time for us to take stock of the progress made under the current program with the Argentine authorities.” The trip comes at a mixed moment for Milei’s economy, which has seen inflation on a downward trend over the past three months — though it is still at 33.5 percent year-on-year.
But growth remains sluggish and well under the IMF’s forecast of 3.5 percent in 2026, with 0.2 percent growth year-on-year. Growth was forecast to rise even higher in 2027, hitting four percent. Consumer activity is anemic while debt defaults are skyrocketing. Mortgage defaults have tripled over the past year, hitting 12.8 percent, the highest level in 20 years.
In 2025, Argentina concluded an extended fund facility agreement worth $20 billion over four years with the IMF. In May, the IMF greenlit a $1 billion tranche under the agreement. Protests against the IMF in Buenos Aires on Monday sought to give Georgieva an “unwelcome” reception, with placards held up in the main square reading, “no to paying foreign debt.” Another banner bore the slogan “English out of the Malvinas, IMF out of Argentina” — the first part referring to the British claim over the Falkland Islands.
After Argentina, the IMF director is expected to visit Uruguay to meet with President Yamandu Orsi.
© 2024 AFP
