IMF’s Christine Lagarde says Argentina unequivocally making fiscal progress

The Associated Press
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - Argentina is “unequivocally” making progress on its goals to cut its fiscal deficit as part of a $50 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) program, Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said on Saturday.

Lagarde told reporters at the G20 meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors in Buenos Aires that IMF staff consulted with Argentine officials after June’s inflation level of 29.5 percent printed above the target band, but that Argentina’s inflation goals were “attainable.”

“We have respect and encouragement for the policies that are being developed by the government of Argentina,” Lagarde said.

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Argentines welcomed International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Christine Lagarde, who arrived Friday in Argentina for a G20 summit, with protests and roadblocks in Buenos Aires. Social movements, students, opposition political parties, and workers’ unions mobilize to reject the IMF once more.

The government of Macri requested a stand-by loan in May in the midst of a rapid devaluation of the Argentine peso. In June the IMF approved a US$ 50 billion loan, which was rejected by many groups in Argentina that associate the IMF’s return with an impending economic and financial crisis.