The mobilization has collected 200 Argentine movements and associations rather classified on the left. They protest against the agreement concluded at the end of January by the Government of the left with the International Monetary Fund.
Le Monde with AFP
“No to the agreement with the IMF, not the payment of external debt.” It is with this slogan that several thousand left supporters have marched in Buenos Aires, Tuesday, February 8, for denounce the agreement concluded by the Argentine government of President Alberto Fernandez with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). It provides for the reimbursement of a loan of $ 44 billion (€ 38.5 billion).
The activists of about 200 movements and associations gathered in front of the government’s palace to claim the breakdown of negotiations with the international institution, found the France-Presse agency (AFP).
The Government of President Fernandez must “remember the Argentine history: all agreements with the IMF since 1983 brought chaos, ended in [structural], hyperinflation and enormous social crises,” Declared at AFP Myriam Bregman, deputy of the Left Front and Workers (FIT). The government “should prove why it would be different” this time, she added.
On January 28, President Argentin announced an agreement in principle with the IMF on the rescheduling of a $ 44 billion loan granted in 2018 to the government of its right center predecessor, Mauricio Macri.
The Agreement provides for deadlines up to 2036 in return for economic reforms, in particular a gradual reduction in the budget deficit and inflation control. According to the government, this will not affect social spending or economic growth.
rebound growth in 2021
The agreement “has nothing to do with the needs of the Argentine people, but with an illegitable debt”, denounced Vilma Ripoll, another ITS person.
It still has to be ratified by Parliament, where the coalition in power represents the largest group but does not hold the majority. The Government hopes to define the terms of the new funding program before the maturity of March 22: $ 2.85 billion must then be reimbursed by Argentina, which does not have the means, according to the Minister of the Economy , Martin Guzman.
After three years of recession, the last two linked to the impact of the Pandemic of Covid-19, the Argentine economy has experienced a strong rebound in 2021, with 10.3% growth for the first eleven months of the year (4% planned for 2022). But inflation remains very high, about 50.9% for 2021 (33% for 2022), as well as poverty, which affects 40% of the population.
