International Monetary Fund (IMF) Director of Communications Julie Kozack confirmed in a brief statement Monday that the lender’s executive board will meet on August 23 to confirm a disbursement for Argentina.

The communiqué was interpreted as support for the government’s decision Monday morning to devalue the currency by 22% and hike the interest rate by 21 percentage points. 

The statement in its entirety read:

“On July 28, the Argentine authorities and IMF staff reached staff-level agreement on the combined fifth and sixth reviews under Argentina’s 30-month Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement. This agreement is subject to the approval by the IMF Executive Board, which is expected to meet on August 23 to unlock the agreed disbursements.”

“We welcome the authorities’ recent policy actions and commitment going forward to safeguard stability, rebuild reserves and enhance fiscal order.”

The July staff-level agreement granted the country access to a US$7.5 billion disbursement. However, the disbursement is subject to approval by the IMF executive board, and Argentina must continue to implement the policies it agreed on with the lender.

The government and the IMF signed an Extended Fund Facility agreement in 2022 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 in order to receive disbursements every three months, which are used to pay for the previous debt with the IMF.

When the July agreement was inked, the international lender said in a statement that “adherence to the target requires further tightening the fiscal stance in the second half of this year,” as well as calling for “spending controls through better targeted social assistance.” It also asked Argentina to limit spending on wages and hike energy tariffs “to better reflect changes in production costs.”

In the agreement, Argentina’s fiscal deficit target for 2023 remained unchanged at 1.9% of GDP, despite the Fund recognizing in the document that the drought “had a significant impact” on the country’s fiscal revenues.

Javier Milei of La Libertad Avanza, the libertarian economist who was the most-voted candidate in Sunday’s primary elections, said in radio interviews Monday morning that the IMF “shouldn’t have any problems with the program we’re proposing,” which is “a far deeper cut.” 

Milei’s economic proposals include sweeping cuts to the state and widespread privatizations, a program he has called the “chainsaw plan”.