BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – The executive board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved the second review for Argentina’s $44 billion extended fund facility program, the lender said on Friday, noting the country’s efforts to meet the established targets.
The approval allows for the issuance of $3.8 billion, bringing total disbursements under the arrangement to about $17.5 billion.
“Decisive actions by the new economic team have been critical to stabilizing markets and rebuilding confidence,” the IMF said in a statement.
Argentina, a major grains producer, struck a new IMF deal earlier this year to replace a failed program from 2018.
The new program came with economic targets, including rebuilding depleted international reserves and reducing a deep primary fiscal deficit to improve the country’s finances.
“Relevant end-September quantitative program targets were met, including for net international reserves and monetary financing of the fiscal deficit,” the IMF said.
Its managing director, Kristalina Goergieva, added the decision comes after Argentina’s new economic team, named in July, had adopted “decisive corrective measures” that were starting “to restore confidence and policy credibility.”
(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos and Eliana Raszewski, Editing by Isabel Woodford and Cynthia Osterman)
