Argentina achieved this Tuesday an extension of its agreement with the Paris Club that will allow it to postpone an imminent payment of some 2,000 million dollars, shortly before the International Monetary Fund votes on a new credit program for this country.
“Prior to the vote of the executive board of the International Monetary Fund, the Minister of Economy, Martín Guzmán, held a meeting with the president of the Paris Club, Emmanuel Moulin, in which the parties agreed on a new extension of the understanding reached in June 2021,” an official statement reported on Tuesday.
Argentina had agreed last year with the Paris Club to postpone until March 31, 2022 the payment of some 2,000 million dollars pending, while it negotiates the rescheduling of its debt with that multilateral organization.
That payment corresponds to the last tranche of a debt that Argentina had already renegotiated in 2014.
“The agreement includes financial guarantees from the Paris Club in support of the Extended Facilities program that lasts thirty months, allowing Argentina to secure the financial sources identified in the agreement with the IMF,” said the Ministry of Economy.
The Argentine parliament has just approved a program of extended facilities with the IMF to restructure its 45,000 million dollar debt, which the board of that body must evaluate this Friday in Washington.
“During the term of the program, Argentina will make partial payments to (Paris) Club members in proportion to those made to other bilateral creditors,” the statement added.
Once the agreement is ratified by the IMF board, Argentina will receive a first disbursement of some 9,800 million dollars, which will allow it to amortize a maturity of some 2,900 million dollars before March 31 and strengthen international reserves.
Although Argentina’s gross reserves are around 37,000 million dollars, liquid reserves are at such critical levels that they do not allow pending payments with the Paris Club and the IMF, according to the Central Bank.
