After weeks of rumors and cancellations, a team from the Economy Ministry arrived in Washington on Tuesday morning to close ongoing negotiations with International Monetary Fund (IMF).

According to a spokesperson in the IMF, the delegation and a team from the lender began face-to-face technical meetings this afternoon in Washington, D.C., which are expected to continue over the next few days.

Economy Vice Minister Gabriel Rubinstein, Chief Economic Advisor Leonardo Madcur, and Central Bank Vice Presidents Lisandro Cleri and Jorge Carrera are part of the entourage that’s already in Washington set to have meetings with representatives of the lender, official sources told the Herald. Treasury Secretary Raúl Rigo is joining the team on Tuesday night to tackle the financial angle of the deal.

In 2022, the government and the IMF signed an Extended Fund Facility agreement after renegotiating the US$44 billion debt former President Mauricio Macri acquired in 2018. The deal includes an economic program that Argentina must comply with to receive disbursements every three months, which the government uses to pay the previous debt.

Argentina has paid the IMF US$10.9 billion so far this year (plus US$1.45 billion in charges and interests) and the lender has disbursed some US$5.47 billion to the country. According to the consulting firm Ecolatina, Argentina’s international reserves are at a record-low negative US$7 billion. This month, Argentina is facing maturities for US$2.6 billion with the IMF.

This year, the IMF has yet to make three disbursements totaling US$10.9 billion — one worth US$4.1 billion in June (which it still hasn’t transferred) and two others worth US$3.4 billion in September and December.

The IMF staff’s upcoming fifth review of the program will evaluate Argentina’s performance between January and March of this year. If approved, the IMF will make the disbursement that was due in June.

However, the lender and the Economy Ministry are holding talks about the review and renegotiating changes in the program. The main issues on the table are the fiscal deficit goal, the possibility of the Fund bringing forward disbursements, and allowing the government to use those funds to intervene in the secondary bond market to stop runs on the Argentine peso — which become increasingly likely as the elections come closer.

Economy Minister Sergio Massa is currently campaigning as presidential candidate for the ruling coalition Unión por la Patria (UxP). The Economy Ministry does not rule out that he could postpone campaign engagements to close the deal in person in Washington on Thursday or Friday.