The International Monetary Fund warned on Thursday that for Argentina “Reaching the reserves target this year will be a “challenge.” The government called for a “more ambitious” buildup so it can regain access to international markets. He also pointed out that the organization’s mission is againstI’m only going to Buenos Aires next year.
At a press conference in Washington, the Minister of Communications of the International Monetary Fund julie cusack, He answered several questions about Argentina and stressed reservations. As usual, the speaker began by highlighting the government’s achievements in the areas of adjustment and inflation.
“Significant progress continues to be made in enhancing macroeconomic stability in Argentina, despite some occasional fluctuations,” he said.
He added: “From our point of view, continued reform efforts in the macroeconomic and structural areas would help maintain and expand the progress already achieved, especially with regard to reducing inflation, reducing poverty, and of course the reality of resuming growth. Our estimates are 4.5% this year.”
However, he later warned: “Some additional reforms would help sustain these gains. What specifically are we referring to here? First,Monetary and currency policies should support a more ambitious reserve accumulation path in order to build sufficient margins. In Argentina. This will help Argentina better deal with shocks and will also facilitate re-access to international capital markets.
By December, BCRA is expected to have net reserves of -US$2.6 billion. But after activating the swap tranche with the United States at $2.5 billion, estimates indicate that it stands at -$16 billion.
Regarding the accumulation of reserves, Kozak said that “at this stage, achieving the reserve target for the end of the year will be a challenge.”
“However, it still stands“It is necessary for the authorities to make concerted efforts in the coming period to rebuild international reserves.”
He added: “The reason we are calling for stronger reserves is to enhance the macroeconomic stability that has already been achieved, as well To enhance Argentina’s ability to withstand shocks. “We continue to encourage the authorities to seize the opportunity to implement a consistent and robust monetary and currency framework that will help support reserve accumulation.”
Asked specifically about whether there would be a waiver from the IMF in the next review of the program for not meeting the reserve target, Kozak said: “I will not speculate at this stage on what will be considered in the discussions for the next review.”
The speaker also called for accelerating reforms in many areas and continuing financial adjustment. “We call for reforms aimed at improving the efficiency and fairness of the Argentine financial system, coupled with continued spending controls and reforms, including subsidies. This would help to further strengthen the fiscal anchor, which has been very important for Argentina’s return to macro stability, and create a more market-oriented and more resilient economy in Argentina.”
He added, “It will also require continued deregulation reforms, as well as efforts to improve the performance and flexibility of markets, including the labor market. In all these efforts and in all these areas of reform, it remains necessary to build consensus in favor of these reforms, including facilitating the passage of any legislation that may be necessary.”
In response to a question about the upcoming IMF mission to Buenos Aires, Kozak indicated that technicians will evaluate the targets at the end of next December, and the mission usually takes place after this date because ““This will allow the team to discuss progress towards achieving the goals with the authorities.” He pointed out that although a date for the mission has not yet been set, it will be “after the end of December,” that is, next year.
Kozak was also asked whether US Treasury bond swaps would be included in the reserves. “We have a framework at the IMF to analyze how to deal with instruments of this type. Naturally, we will apply this framework to the swap line for Argentina. But that will be the thing that the team will be, and we will be, and we will show it when we publish the next technical report.”