The closing of the agreement with the IMF is delayed due to the fiscal deficit target

Negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) continue and there is uncertainty in the Ministry of Economy about when the trip to Washington by a delegation to close the agreement will take place.

With tickets in hand, the delegation made up of the Vice Minister of Economy, Gabriel Rubinstein; the head of Advisors, Leonardo Madcur and the second vice president of the Central Bank, Lisandro Cleri, among others; does not yet have a flight date and time to the United States for meetings with the staff of the Fund.

According to senior sources at the Palacio de Hacienda, the dispute now is no longer over the advance of disbursements, but over the limit of the fiscal deficit. He looks for the adjusting organism to be of 1.5 points of GDP While the Minister of Economy Sergio Massa, in the middle of the electoral campaign, does not budge from 1.9 points.

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The economic team had even begun negotiations with the idea that the deficit target be 2.3 points of the product, due to the negative impact of the drought on the economy. but the background I would be adamant regarding this point of the agreement.

Delayed economic team trip

From Economy they indicate that Massa does not want anyone to travel until the most important points have been closed, so that they are not held “hostages” in moments of greatest tension.

Other issues that complicated the virtual negotiations were the firepower of the Central Bank to intervene in the exchange market and avoid a sudden devaluation, as well as the use of dollars to sustain economic activity, via payment for imports.

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