Argentina Negotiates IMF Aid Package
Argentina is negotiating with the International Monetary Fund on an aid package worth as much as $9 billion, a top Economy Ministry official said.
“We’re working [with the IMF] on a hypothesis that goes between $6 billion and $9 billion,” Treasury Secretary Jorge Baldrich was quoted as saying by local wire services.
A high-ranking official within the Economy Ministry confirmed that Baldrich had made the statement earlier.
Meanwhile, IMF spokesman Francisco Baker declined to comment on reports from Buenos Aires that Argentina was working with IMF officials on additional financing.
Still, markets were buoyed by the news, as it helped to quell investors’ worries of a possible debt default. Investors had been seeking official confirmation after a local newspaper reported that a $9-billion IMF aid package was in the works.
The government--struggling to revive an economy mired in a three-year slump--needs the cash in order to ease fears it might miss payments on its $128 billion of public debt.
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