BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Argentina is facing a billion-dollar trip wire of debt repayments to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) coming due with uncertainty over whether the South American country will pay amid tense talks to revamp around $40 billion in loans.
The grains-producing country, which has been battling currency and debt crises for years, is due to pay back $730 million to the IMF on Friday and another $365 million on Tuesday next week, though officials have not confirmed plans to pay.
“What is going to happen, we will know in the next few hours,” presidential spokeswoman Gabriela Cerruti told a news conference on Thursday. She added: “Argentina’s government is willing to reach an agreement to pay in a sustainable manner.”
The IMF did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the looming payments.
Argentina’s talks with the IMF to revamp a failed 2018 loan have stumbled in recent months over differences between the two sides about how quickly the country should reduce its fiscal deficit as part of a medium-term economic plan.
That has hit sovereign bond prices, some of which have tumbled to below 30 cents on the dollar. More hard-left politicians within the…
