Argentina announced that they have signed an agreement with the IMF

Argentine President Alberto Fernandez announced that his country has reached a debt settlement agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Fernandez, speaking from the presidential residence of Olivos, said that they reached an agreement with the IMF to repay the $44 billion debt that his country received from the IMF in 2018. The President of Argentina started by saying, "I would like to explain to you that the Argentine government has reached an agreement with the IMF. Managing is a job of responsibility. We had a problem before, but now we have a solution. Without an agreement, we did not have a future horizon. With this agreement, we will be able to organize our present and build a future. This agreement does not contain restrictions that delay our development." Mentioning that the agreement is far from restrictions, Fernandez said: "This agreement does not restrict our retirees' rights that we have compensated in 2020. It does not force us to undertake labor reform. It supports our investment in public affairs. It does not force us to reach the zero deficit target. It does not affect public services, does not limit our social spending, and respects our investment plans in science and technology. This understanding envisages the continuation of the economic recovery that has already begun. He predicts that there will be no decline in real spending by the national government and that there will be an increase in public works investment." 'We need to evolve to be able to pay' Noting that the agreement does not impose any conditions on Argentina, Fernandez said, "We will be able to act using our independence and implement our growth, development, and social justice policies. It's an agreement based on the world's confidence in our abilities. We needed to develop in order to be able to pay. There was no other way than this." Fernandez emphasized that he will submit the agreement to Congress for evaluation and that he will need everyone's support in this regard. 'Let's look to the future without forgetting the past' Pointing to the former government's borrowing from the IMF, Fernandez said, "History will judge who did what, who caused problems, who solved them. I invite you to look to the future without forgetting the past." Argentina, a South American country with a population of more than 44 million, signed the $57 billion stand-by agreement in 2018, which includes the highest loan opened in IMF history under the leadership of former President Mauricio Macri, and used $44 billion from the fund in this context.