THE International Monetary Fund said yesterday it has completed its first review of a huge loan programme agreed with Argentina and will now disburse US$4 billion (RM17.6 billion).

Argentina is just emerging from three years of recession and battling a high poverty rate and rising inflation, which hit 51% last year.

In March the IMF approved a 30-month credit programme with Argentina totalling US$44 billion. The US$4 billion is part of that.

“Against the backdrop of increased global uncertainties, the executive board assessed that all end-March 2022 and continuous performance criteria and indicative targets were met, and that initial progress was made on the structural front,” the IMF said.

Under the deal struck in March – the 13th that Buenos Aires has signed with the IMF since the return of democracy in 1983 – repayments will be made from 2026 to 2034 after a grace period. – AFP, June 25, 2022.