The government recognizes that international support is lacking to close the deal with the IMF

In the national government they admit that the agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) still does not have the necessary support from the international community, but they hope to achieve them with progress of the negotiations. “There is not the full support of the international community. Each government will decide when to express itself,” a source from the Ministry of Economy told NA, who admitted that this is one of the obstacles that still exists in the negotiation. Hence, the meeting that the Minister of Economy, Martín Guzmán, will lead with provincial governors next Wednesday , from 5:00 p.m., at the Museum of the Bicentennial. “We are going to explain what the status of the negotiation is and we will inform you of the current geopolitical situation,” they indicated near the head of the Palacio de Hacienda. Given this situation, officials from the Palacio de Hacienda will hold special meetings with businessmen this week to continue explaining details of the talks with the IMF, and eventually the complications that delay the signing. Next week it will be the turn of the heads of legislative blocks, who will then have to carry out the discussion in the National Congress. From the Palacio de Hacienda they clarified that the meeting with the governors will be descriptive of how the conversation is being addressed, but without leaving room for them to introduce their perceptions. “We are going to communicate the goals, the performance criteria that are going to be taken, and that we need to reach an agreement,” they insisted on Guzmán’s proximity.

The three topics of the meeting

The program under discussion is an Extended Facilities agreement and will have three topics: fiscal path, monetary issue, and reserve status . “These are the three central points on which Wednesday’s presentation will be based,” the sources asserted, adding that “it will be the basis of the multi-year plan that will be presented.” In a change of view from past programs, the IMF would agree to include price agreements as part of the plan to contain inflation . “The IMF is awaiting the result of the rounds of price agreements that Commerce Secretary Roberto Feletti is carrying out,” the sources revealed. “It is necessary that there is a commitment from the entire community to carry out a task that will require many years. That is why it is important to agree on prices and that wages have a normal nominal path,” they affirmed.

JxC governors will not meet with Fernández

The opposition coalition Together for Change decided that the four governors who are part of the space do not attend the meeting called for Wednesday by President Alberto Fernández to talk about the negotiation with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) . The head of the Buenos Aires Government, Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, and the governors of the UCR Gerardo Morales (Jujuy), Gustavo Valdés (Corrientes) and Rodolfo Suárez (Mendoza) they had telephone conversations with the rest of the members of the national board of Together for Change, in which the decision was made. The governors resolved “that they are not going to go for the photo and without specifying anything” regarding the details of the negotiation carried out by the Minister of Economy, Martín Guzmán, with the IMF. After defining that they will not attend the meeting for which the Government invited all the governors, businessmen and trade unionists, the provincial leaders of Together for Change put as a condition that the parliamentary leaders of the coalition also take part. That is, those that the Government extend the invitation to Alfredo Cornejo, Luis Naidenoff and Humberto Schiavoni, for the Senate, and to Cristian Ritondo, Mario Negri, Juan Manuel López, Rodrigo de Loredo and Ricardo López Murphy for Deputies, among others.

Hard position of the opposition

This position of the opposition coalition against the Government had already been briefly discussed during the meeting they held last week, in which the new integration of the national table was defined. There it was agreed that they should wait for the Government to present concrete details about the negotiation and the eventual agreement with the IMF and not join a photo with the President that could be used politically by the ruling party . The imminence of the meeting called by the head of state hastened the definition of Together for Change, thus hardening its position after last year’s electoral victory that gave it a greater presence in Congress. The Government, for its part, is seeking political support for the negotiation with the IMF after the approval of the 2022 Budget failed, a fact that gave a negative signal to the body with which Argentina has a debt of 45 billion dollars. In this context, both in the ruling party and in the opposition, expectations are placed on the call for extraordinary sessions of Congress, which in February would deal with an extensive agenda of issues, which could include the multi-year economic plan that, according to Fernández, will contemplate the scope of an eventual agreement with the Fund.