Javier Milei said that International Monetary Fund (IMF) head Kristalina Georgieva signaled the lender’s desire to cooperate with Argentina’s new government after the two spoke on Saturday for the first time since Milei won in last Sunday’s elections.

“I had an excellent conversation with IMF Director Kristalina Georgieva today, in which we talked about the great economic challenge our country is facing,” Argentina’s president-elect said in a post on X (formerly Twitter)

Milei, who will take office on December 10, said he discussed aspects of La Libertad Avanza’s (LLA) fiscal tightening and monetary programs. “The Fund showed its cooperation to find the structural solutions that Argentina needs,” Milei added.

Georgieva also mentioned the exchange in a post on X. “We discussed the significant challenges for Argentina’s economy and the decisive policy actions needed,” she said. Giorgieva added that the IMF is committed to supporting efforts to “durably reduce inflation, improve public finances, and increase private sector-led growth.”

In September, the IMF criticized Milei’s dollarization proposal. “Dollarization requires important preparatory steps, and it is not a substitute for sound macroeconomic policies,” said the lender’s spokesperson, Julie Kozack, in a press conference.

In August, Milei held a one-hour virtual meeting with Rodrigo Valdés, director of the IMF’s Western Hemisphere Department. During the meeting, Milei proposed a “significant” fiscal tightening that would go beyond the cuts the IMF has been demanding of Argentina.

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.