Argentina strikes breakthrough deal with IMF in $45 bln debt talks
Argentina has struck an agreement in principle with the International Monetary Fund over a new $44.5 billion standby deal, both sides said on Friday, a major breakthrough in tense talks to restructure loans the country cannot repay.
The South American country has been locked in talks for over a year with the IMF over a new program to revamp debt outstanding from a failed $57 billion loan deal from 2018, the fund's largest ever. It faced a $700 million payment due Friday.
"We had an unpayable debt, which left us without a present and a future. Now we have a reasonable agreement that will allow us to grow and meet our obligations through growth," President Alberto Fernandez said in an address to the nation.
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He said the agreement would not limit Argentina's economic plans or spending, which had been something of a red line for a country emerging from years of recession and the harsh impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
