IMF Hopes To Make Progress On Argentina Debt Deal Soon - Deputy Managing Director

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th January, 2022) The International Monetary Fund (IMF) hopes to make progress in the coming days on a new aid program to help Argentina roll over $44 billion of long-term debt it is unable to service, IMF First Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath said on Tuesday.

"We are working very closely with the Argentina authorities to come up with a program that will help," Gopinath told a news conference after the release of the IMF's latest World Economic Outlook. "We hope we will make even more progress in the next days."

The IMF-Argentina talks have been going on for months over the service of the loan from a 2018 program and pressure has been mounting on Buenos Aires to secure an agreement that will let it borrow again to replenish its foreign-exchange reserves and overcome soaring inflation.

Gopinath said the people of Argentina require a program that is sound, credible and one that addresses the country's imbalances.

"We have to improve on the LD (long-debt) imbalances so that we can help the Argentines recover and get out of the difficulties they are facing. We're working very closely with the authorities. We understand that the social and economic situation is challenging, which is why we are adopting a flexible and pragmatic approach," she said.

Optimism that Argentina will strike a new agreement with the IMF has lifted prices of the country's government debt by about 10% in December, according to media reports.