The Argentine Parliament approved in the early hours of today the agreement of 45 billion dollars with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the refinancing of the public debt, which now remains to be approved by the Senate, its secretariat announced.
The House approved by 200 votes to 37, with 15 abstentions, the refinancing plan agreed on March 3 between the government of center-left President Alberto Fernandez and Washington International Finance to settle the legacy of the 2018 loan. previous government.
Thousands marched in Buenos Aires yesterday to protest the deal. Small groups set fire to car tires and smashed windows outside the area where Congress is based. Minor incidents were reported between youth groups and police. Some burned US flags, a reflection of how inextricably linked the Fund and Washington are to many in Argentina.
Earlier, protesters marched with drums and songs, with many holding banners and placards reading slogans such as “IMF out”, or “no to the IMF agreement”.
The technical agreement was closed by the two sides last week, after a year of negotiations, and now needs to be approved by parliament.
“A colonial agreement” that can bring “only more crisis, more (fiscal) adjustment, more poverty,” said Romina Del Pla, a member of parliament from the Workers’ Party. It will create “the conditions for a new popular uprising to break out,” he warned.
Argentina was facing $ 18 billion in IMF repayments and interest arrears this year, which it was unable to repay after years of economic crisis, with inflation at 50%, foreign exchange reserves falling, weakening and weakening pesos other measures.
Officials say the new deal is key to avoiding arrears, suspending $ 57 billion in debt service in 2018. But it sets fiscal targets, such as reducing the deficit and removing energy subsidies.
The IMF is synonymous with many in Argentina for austerity measures that exacerbated the deep economic crisis of 2001-2002 and pushed millions into poverty.
A spokeswoman for President Gabriela Cerouti called the deal “the best possible solution,” and Sergio Massa, the lower house of parliament, called for a “solution that would allow us to avoid catastrophe” that would lead to a new bankruptcy. .
SOURCE: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ
Source: Capital
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