The Minister of Economy, Luis Caputo, formalized the amount involved in the agreement discussed with the International Monetary Fund hours after talking with the head of that agency, Kristalina Georgieva.
Sources close to the minister commented that Caputo made contact with Georgieva on Wednesday afternoon-night to suggest that it would be convenient put some light on what is being negotiated To, they say in the Treasury, to calm the expectations of the market, which in recent days began to speculate on the content of the agreement and, in those speculation, certain demands that, for economics, led, unjustified turbulence to the daily operation. The word “devaluation” began to sound strongly, without going any further. Also to exchange bands that replace the crawling-pe of 1% monthly.
It is worth remembering that last week something similar to a run -out which was expressed, for example, in an abrupt jump of the quotes of the future dollar contracts. In addition to the jumps in alternative dollars. Those rumors also impacted on the reserves of the Central Bank. Faced with modifications to exchange regime That altere the devaluation rate of 1% daily, the importers rushed to buy dollars, the exporters delayed the currency settlements and the central ended with a negative balance in their reserves.
For Caputo, the diffusion of the figure in question is important for disable speculation of all kindsthose of the people of the market and those who, in their view, launched the opposition to destabilize the government of Milei and its economic program.
So it is now known that the amount under discussion is 20,000 million dollars. It is, Caputo said, The agreed figure between economics and the IMF technical staff. It is also agreed that all the dollars that will enter will go to the Central Bank, which in return will deliver an amount to be determined from the INTRANSFERIBLE LETTERS that today has its asset. Now, the staff must raise that application – and the complete agreement, of course – to the board. In Economics they claim that reserves will become “comfortably positive.” Today are negative, around 8000 million dollars. ”
For greater reinforcement, they are underway, and advanced, negotiations with the World Bank, the Inter -American Development Bank and the Andean Development Corporation, which would provide additional funds. It is not ruled out, although it is a distant possibility, that the United States’s own treasure makes a contribution, in a format similar to the current SWAP with the Central Bank of China.
The bureaucratic tour that must travel the text of the agreement has been transformed into a counterweight that affected expectations .. Since Milei announced the agreement on March 1 before the Legislative Assembly, through the DNU, the discussion in the bicameral and this announcement today has spent almost a month. There are still two or three weeks to reach “mid -April”, the moment, according to Milei, that the board will approve the agreement.
They still have to know the conditions of the agreement. Caputo affirmed more than once the IMF He is not demanding a devaluation. But it is not known if there will be touch -up to the exchange rate regime, if there is a requirement or goal regarding the level of reservations or issues related to the so -called “structural reforms.”
Economy seeks to become strong at an important point: the fiscal adjustment has already been made.