Argentina, IMF agree on loan repayment plan

Argentina and the IMF said Thursday they had reached agreement on a "pragmatic and realistic" plan for the country to repay a ruinous $44-billion debt.

The economy ministry in Buenos Aires announced that a deal was struck on refinancing its debt in a way that "seeks to continue generating conditions of stability."

The deal -- the details of which were ironed out between Argentine officials and IMF staff after an in-principle agreement in January -- will be sent to Congress later Thursday for approval.

It must also be ratified by the international lender's executive board.

In 2018, under the government of conservative President Mauricio Macri, the IMF granted its biggest-ever loan of $57 billion to Argentina.

The country received $44 billion of that amount. Macri's successor Alberto Fernandez refused to accept the rest, seeking also to renegotiate repayment terms.

Payments of $19 billion and $20 billion were due this year -- a timeline the government considered impossible.

Argentina is just emerging from three years of economic recession and battling rising inflation and a high poverty rate.

Under the new deal, the ministry said, repayments will be made from 2026 to 2034 after a grace period.

In this way, Argentina hopes to reduce its fiscal deficit from 3.0 percent of GDP today to 0.9 percent by 2024.

In a statement in Washington, the IMF said Argentina would benefit from a 30-month Extended Fund Facility (EFF) -- a relief measure granted to countries experiencing repayment difficulties.

It spoke of a "pragmatic and realistic program, with credible economic policies to strengthen macroeconomic stability and to address Argentina's deep-rooted challenges to sustainable growth."