Bloomberg: Argentina's Caputo Brokers Deal With the IMF He Once Battled

[Judi Lynn]

Last edited Thu Jan 11, 2024, 06:08 AM - Edit history (1)

Economy minister leading talks over $44 billion program

Caputo left central bank in 2018 amid tensions with lender

By Patrick Gillespie
January 10, 2024 at 9:00 PM CST

The last time Luis Caputo negotiated with the International Monetary Fund, fierce disagreements over how to manage Argentina’s struggling currency caused him to quit his job as the country’s central bank chief.

A little more than five years later, Caputo is back for a second act, and the IMF that forced his exit during those 2018 talks is cheering his initial efforts to salvage an economy that plunged further into crisis.

Tapped by libertarian President Javier Milei to lead the economy ministry, Caputo on Wednesday reached a staff-level agreement with the Washington-based lender over how to save a $44 billion aid program that the IMF said Wednesday “went severely off track” with the previous government.



Argentina Economy Minister Luis Caputo Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

The pact is key to unlocking a $4.7 billion IMF disbursement Argentina needs to repay debts owed to the Fund itself, and will also provide breathing room until the next IMF review in May. By then, Caputo and Milei can decide whether to negotiate a completely new deal or seek more funding. In the near term, Caputo only saw one option.

More:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-01-11/argentina-s-caputo-brokers-deal-with-the-imf-he-once-battled


Adding photos of Caputo with his previous monstrous boss, fascist President Mauricio Macri