Argentina opens talks with IMF over rescheduling debt

[BUENOS AIRES] Argentina formally opened consultations with the International Monetary Fund on Wednesday to agree new terms on the repayment of a US$57 billion bailout agreed in 2018, the presidency said.

President Alberto Fernandez and Economy Minister Martin Guzman had spoken with IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva "to begin negotiations aimed at reaching a new understanding with the organisation," Mr Fernandez's office said in a statement.

In their conversation, Mr Fernandez told Ms Georgieva of the need "to work together with the IMF to sort out the disorder that we inherited from the previous government" of his liberal predecessor Mauricio Macri.

Mr Fernandez put repayments to the Washington-based lender on hold and renounced outstanding tranches of the bailout when he assumed the presidency last December, saying Argentina already had enough debt.

Argentina "to a great extent, has already put its accounts in order with its creditors and will start working today to do so with the international credit organizations, especially the IMF," the center-left president said.

Earlier this month, Mr Fernandez's government reached a deal with three major creditor groups to restructure a US$66 billion debt after months of strained negotiations and missed deadlines.

The bonds represent roughly a fifth of the country's US$324 billion debt, which amounts to around 90 per cent of its GDP.

AFP