The IMF celebrated the BCRA’s reserve purchases and said that it is close to meeting the goal for the entire year

IMF spokesperson Julie Kozackmaintained that since the beginning of the year the monetary authority has already bought US$ 10,000 million in foreign currencya figure that allowed a significant improvement in the country’s external position.

“Since the beginning of 2026, the Central Bank has already purchased US$10 billion in foreign currency for reserves,” the spokesperson said during a press conference. As he explained, this process made “the net international reserves have increased by more than US$ 7,000 million”so “they are already close to reaching the goal planned for the end of this year.”

The annual objective agreed with the Fund contemplates an improvement of approximately US$8 billion in net reserves compared to the program’s starting pointso, according to the organization’s evaluation, Argentina has already traveled most of the path committed to this year.

Kozack assured that this performance was “much better than anticipated” and attributed it to two main factors: a more favorable trade balance and greater capital inflows. “This better-than-expected performance reflects a stronger trade balance and capital inflows,” he said.

The official also highlighted that the improvement on the external front is linked to “greater confidence” and “structural improvements in the mining, energy and agriculture sectors.” He also highlighted that Argentina, as a net energy exporter, is obtaining benefits from the increase in international prices in the sector.

As a consequence of this external strengthening, Kozack maintained that “Argentina’s spreads (country risk) were reduced to less than 500 basis points” and recalled that the country was recently upgraded by a risk rating agency.

The statements were made after the IMF Executive Board approved the second review of the program. In this context, the spokesperson made a positive evaluation of the progress of the Argentine economy and spoke of the progress made in the last two and a half years.

“I want to recognize the significant progress that has been made to stabilize the Argentine economy,” he said. Among the main results, he mentioned that annual inflation fell from “around 200% at the end of 2023 to 30% currently” and that the fiscal deficit was reduced by approximately five points of the Gross Domestic Product.

He also highlighted that Argentina recorded “consecutive primary fiscal surpluses for the first time in almost two decades” and highlighted the reforms implemented in fiscal, commercial and labor matters, some of them with support from Congress.

The spokesperson placed special emphasis on the social impact of economic stabilization. “I want to emphasize this particular point,” he said. “All this progress led to a very significant reduction in poverty in Argentina.” As he indicated, the poverty rate went from “more than 50% to less than 30%” in a few years, a result that, he said, was also accompanied by an improvement in social assistance.

Looking ahead to the coming months, Kozack considered that “the direction of the path continues to be very encouraging” and maintained that there is a shared vision on the need to deepen the progress achieved. “The focus in the short term will be on continuing to build resilience and strengthening Argentina’s external buffers,” he explained.

According to the IMF, this process will allow the country to better face possible international shocks and will contribute, over time, to recovering stable access to both the local and international capital markets “on more favorable terms.”

Regarding the tax and pension reforms included in the medium-term agenda, Kozack stated that the Argentine authorities are “fully committed to their fiscal anchor” and that they plan to continue gradually strengthening the tax, pension and fiscal frameworks. In that sense, he highlighted measures already implemented such as “the gradual reduction of trade-distorting taxes” and the adoption of “a more predictable pension indexation formula.”