After receiving half a sanction in the Chamber of Deputies, the agreement with the IMF (International Monetary Fund) will now be discussed in the Senatewhere it will enter from Monday of next week so that the Minister of Economy, Martín Guzmán, supports the project.
The discussion will start in the assembly with the Budget Committee of the Upper House led by the senator from the Frente de Todos por La Rioja, Ricardo Guerra. During the meeting in Senate The government’s economic team will also be present.
After having 202 votes in favor of the project, the Government anticipates that the Senate make an express discussion, so that this very week the proposal can be voted on and, if everything goes well, the final closing of the agreement can be made.
That’s the way it is, the representatives of the Executive Branch will explain the content of the project to the senatorswith the changes that were made at the last minute at the request of the opposition so that a consensus could be reached on the proposal.
After the discussions, the agreement is expected to be voted on before Friday of next week, since the government needs to sign the proposal before March 22, when the next payment to the IMF is due.
This, if one takes into account that for this year the country should pay the agency 19,000 million dollars, of which 2,800 million dollars would be disbursed this month.
However, if the agreement is signed, debt payments will be postponed until 2026. In addition, the country would receive a disbursement of 9.8 billion dollars for the Central Bank to rebuild its reserves.
What can happen in the Senate with the agreement with the IMF
Even though the assembly will start the debate next Monday, for now it is unknown what the work schedule on the proposal will be.
However, it is expected that the project will be voted on that same week. This will depend on whether or not there is consensus on the part of parliamentarianswho have so far remained tight-lipped about their position.
Despite this, it is expected that most of the benches will vote in favor. Meanwhile, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner has not broken her silence on her position on the agreement, especially after the resignation of Máximo Kirchner.