Facundo Iglesia 
International Monetary Fund (IMF) representatives met with the economic teams of Javier Milei and Patricia Bullrich, the presidential candidates of the two coalitions that received the most votes in Sunday’s primaries.
On Friday, Milei held a one-hour virtual meeting with Rodrigo Valdés, the director of the IMF’s Western Hemisphere Department, spokespersons for both the far-right libertarian candidate and the lender confirmed to the Herald.
During the meeting, Milei listed his proposed reforms. The first would be a “significant” fiscal adjustment that would go beyond the cuts the IMF has been demanding of Argentina. He insisted these would focus on a “profound reform of the state”, rather than society or production, and added that he would end the country’s financial deficit via spending cuts.
Milei also said he would promote a monetary reform that closes the Central Bank, thus abolishing the Argentine peso and de facto dollarizing the economy. Other proposals included opening the economy and “modernizing” labor laws.
“These discussions were an opportunity to exchange views on Argentina’s current economic outlook and to understand its policy priorities,” an IMF spokesperson told the Herald. The meetings took place the week after the primaries. The presidential elections are on October 22.
The IMF is a critical actor in the Argentine economy and politics. After former President Mauricio Macri took out a record US$44 billion loan in 2018, President Alberto Fernández’s team renegotiated the deal and reached an extended fund facility program in 2022. The new agreement includes an economic program that Argentina must comply with to receive disbursements every three months, which the government uses to pay the previous debt.
On Monday, the government devalued the peso by 22%. Economy Ministry Sergio Massa, who is also the ruling Unión por la Patria coalition’s presidential candidate, said the devaluation was “imposed” by the IMF.
Carlos Rodríguez, an economist on Milei’s team who attended the meeting, tweeted that he had told those present he was worried about the financial situation the next government would inherit. Darío Epstein, another of Milei’s economic advisors who was in the meeting, “drew attention to the large amount of undocumented debt in the form of withheld dividends and import payments,” Rodríguez added.
Milei said he would not default on Argentina’s sovereign debt and aims to continue the current disbursement program with the Fund.
Earlier this week the IMF team also met with Bullrich’s economic advisors, the IMF confirmed to the Herald. Bullrich’s representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Last month, the Juntos por el Cambio presidential nominee said she would aim to get another loan from the International Monetary Fund if elected.
“Under a new program — an agreement — with the IMF that would shield us with US dollars, we will end the cepo [the tight currency controls currently in force] as soon as possible,” she said in an interview on TV channel La Nación +.
