“No to the agreement with the IMF, no to the payment of the foreign debt. » It is with this slogan that several thousand supporters of the left marched in Buenos Aires on Tuesday February 8 to denounce the agreement concluded by the center-left Argentinian government of President Alberto Fernandez with the International Monetary Fund (IMF ). It provides for the repayment of a $44 billion loan.
Activists from around 200 movements and associations gathered in front of the government palace to demand the breakdown of negotiations with the international institution, noted Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The government of President Fernandez must “remembering Argentina’s history: all agreements with the IMF since 1983 have brought chaos, ended in adjustments (structural), into hyperinflation and huge social crises”, Myriam Bregman, MP for the Left and Workers’ Front (FIT), told AFP. The government “must prove why it would be different” this time, she added.
On January 28, the Argentine president announced an agreement in principle with the IMF on the rescheduling of a 44 billion dollar loan granted in 2018 to the government of his center-right predecessor, Mauricio Macri (2015-2019).
The agreement provides for deadlines up to 2036 in return for economic reforms, in particular a gradual reduction in the budget deficit and control of inflation. According to the government, this will not affect social spending or economic growth.
Rebound in growth in 2021
The deal “has nothing to do with the needs of the Argentine people, but with an illegitimate and unpayable debt”denounced Vilma Ripoll, another FIT official.
It still needs to be ratified by parliament where the ruling coalition represents the largest group, but does not hold a majority. The government hopes to define the terms of the new financing program before the deadline of March 22: 2.85 billion dollars must then be reimbursed by Argentina which does not have the means, according to the Minister of Economy Martin Guzman.
After three years of recession, the last two of which were linked to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Argentine economy experienced a strong rebound in 2021, with 10.3% growth for the first eleven months of the year. year (4% planned for 2022). But inflation remains very high, at around 50.9% for 2021 (33% for 2022), as well as poverty, which affects 40% of the population.