International Monetary Fund director Kristalina Georgieva on Monday hailed Argentina’s improved economic standing since President Javier Milei took power in 2023.
The IMF boss was visiting top debtor Argentina to meet with Milei, for whom the Washington-based institution has repeatedly voiced support since he took office.
“What we have today, by all indicators, is a much sounder picture” since 2023, Georgieva said at a joint press conference with Economy Minister Luis Caputo.
Milei campaigned on a pledge to revive the economy by slashing public spending and reining in inflation. The austerity measures imposed by his government have been unpopular, prompting frequent protests.
Georgieva said Argentina’s “much stronger position… is a result of the hard work of the government,” as well as “the sacrifice of the Argentine people.”
During her two-day trip, Georgieva is set to meet with Central Bank Governor Santiago Bausili and experts from the business world and academia.
On Tuesday, she is expected to visit Vaca Muerta, a vast oil and gas formation that is key to Argentina’s export economy, located about 1,200 kilometres (750 miles) from Buenos Aires.
‘Take stock’
IMF spokesperson Julie Kozack said the visit marked “an opportune time for us to take stock of the progress made under the current programme with the Argentine authorities.”
The trip comes at a mixed moment for Argentina’s economy, which has seen inflation on a downward trend over the past three months – though it is still at 33.5 percent year-on-year.
But growth remains sluggish and well under the IMF’s forecast of 3.5 percent in 2026, with 0.2 percent growth year-on-year. Growth was forecast to rise even higher in 2027, hitting four percent.
Consumer activity is anaemic while debt defaults are skyrocketing.
Mortgage defaults have tripled over the past year, hitting 12.8 percent, the highest level in 20 years.
In 2025, Argentina concluded an extended fund facility agreement worth US$20 billion over four years with the IMF. In May, the IMF greenlit a US$1-billion tranche under the agreement.
Protests against the IMF in Buenos Aires on Monday sought to give Georgieva an “unwelcome” reception, with placards held up in the main square reading: “No to paying foreign debt.”
Another banner bore the slogan “English out of the Malvinas, IMF out of Argentina” – the first part referring to the British claim over the Malvinas (Falkland) Islands.
After Argentina, the IMF director is expected to visit Uruguay to meet with President Yamandú Orsi in Montevideo.
– TIMES/AFP
