The International Monetary Fund (IMF) urged Argentina to maintain its economic program and build reserves, arguing that a stronger external position can help lower country risk as growth weakens.
At a Thursday briefing, IMF spokeswoman Julie Kozack said reserve accumulation and a stronger external position remain important to lowering Argentina’s country risk. She also said the fund and officials want stabilization policies to generate broader activity and employment.
Kozack said the agreed agenda would channel strategic investment through the Incentive Regime for Large Investments (RIGI), advance recently awarded infrastructure concessions, widen access to credit through capital and mortgage markets, and make labor rules more flexible to encourage private hiring.
In October, the IMF lowered its 2026 growth forecast for Argentina to 2.1% from 3.5%. The new projection is below the fund’s 2.3% outlook for Latin America and the Caribbean. Its 2027 estimate for Argentina also fell to 3.5% from 4%, while its inflation and unemployment projections rose, as EconoTimes noted in its earlier coverage of the forecast cut. In May 2026, the IMF board cleared the program’s second review, making about $1 billion available for immediate disbursement.
The IMF said Argentina’s net reserves were about $4 billion above the June target. It also cited nearly $16 billion in Central Bank purchases this year and more than $5 billion raised by the Treasury in domestic markets. Approved RIGI projects exceed $76 billion, the fund said.
MercoPress reported that IMF staff and Argentine officials reached agreement Tuesday on the program’s third review. Kozack said the IMF board may consider the review in early December. Argentina’s 48-month, roughly $20 billion arrangement began in April 2025 with an immediate $12 billion disbursement.
The agreement retains a primary surplus target of 1.4% of gross domestic product (GDP) for 2026, with a similar effort in 2027, and keeps the exchange-rate band system in place.
