President Javier Milei skipped Congress and approved a new Extended Fund Facility program with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) through a “decree of necessity and urgency” (DNU) published Tuesday in the Official Gazette. Crucial details of the loan are not included in the norm.

Just like he had announced last week, Milei issued a DNU instead of taking the path presidents are required to take to approve any IMF deal: file it as a bill in Congress for lawmakers to debate. Legal experts such as lawyer Andrés Gil Domínguez said the move is “null” because it goes against the constitution.

The decree has just five articles but includes a long explanation of why it doesn’t require congressional approval of the specifics of the deal. There is no mention regarding the amount the IMF will lend Argentina nor any other details on monetary policy or timeline.

The first article states that Argentina will have 10 years to pay back the loan’s interests, with a grace period of four years and six months. The loan will be used to pay for Argentina’s Central Bank nontransferable bonds in U.S. dollars, as well as public credit operations carried out within the 2022 Extended Fund Facility program with a deadline in the next four years.

The decree also establishes that the executive branch can tell the Economy Ministry to take on the necessary steps to ensure the first article is met. It also instructed that  Congress’ Permanent Bicameral Commission be notified and that the decree has legal validity from the moment it is published in the Official Gazette.

A preface to the document  explaining the basis for the decree argued that although a 2021 law establishes that all new IMF deals must be approved by Congress, “it is not the Honorable Congress’ role to approve the terms and conditions of an agreement […] but to approve the public credit operation through the sanction of a law.”

The Senate and the Lower House can now debate the decree and ultimately block it. However, since it is a DNU, the norm will remain in full force unless both chambers reject it.

The decree also mentioned that while Article 99 article of the Constitution says that the president has no power to legislate, he can do it in “exceptional circumstances.” The document goes on to say that Argentina’s economic and debt situation merits the “urgent approval” of the new loan.