The new Minister of Economy of Argentina must commit to the program signed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) so that the Paris Club opens talks on the debt of the South American country, said a source from the group on Thursday.
Argentina was to hold a meeting with the group of creditors on Wednesday, but the South American country had to suspend it after Martín Guzmán resigned as Argentine economy minister on Saturday, days before his trip to the French capital.
Silvina Batakis is the new head of the finance portfolio of the southern country, after being sworn in on Monday. An Argentine government source said that Argentina is ready to agree on a new meeting date in which it will seek to renegotiate a debt of some 2.4 billion dollars.
The Paris Club source said the group wants assurances that Batakis plans to continue implementing the IMF program.
“It is a precondition for any new agreement with Argentina,” the source said.
During the Guzman administration, Argentina negotiated with the IMF of a new program for the refinancing of a debt of some 45,000 million dollars.
“If they give us this guarantee, we are ready to have a negotiating session at any time with the Argentine authorities regarding the Paris Club debt,” the source added.
Paris Club creditors, including the United States, Germany and Italy, said in early June that they expected to reach an agreement “in the coming weeks,” but that statement was made before Argentina entered a new political crisis in the last week.
Argentina’s government published a decree in June to pay off the debt under a new agreement or by September 2024 at the latest, after a previous decree expired in May.
The Paris Club gave Argentina more time last year to pay off the debt, giving the government air to negotiate a program with the International Monetary Fund.
Argentina’s meeting with the Paris Club is suspended after the assumption of the new Minister of Economy.
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