The managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, stated that the success of Argentina’s program is contingent upon popular support. “Argentina is implementing a significant adjustment program,” Georgieva stated on Wednesday at the 2025 Annual Meetings held at the Milken Institute in Washington, DC. “The success is going to be based on carrying people with you.” Georgieva cited Argentina as a case study illustrating the prerequisites for effective austerity measures, emphasizing the necessity of conveying to the populace that an expanding deficit and increased public expenditure are not inherently beneficial. The additional instances she referenced pertained to her “part of the world, in Central and Eastern Europe,” where, as she noted, “brave leaders” implemented cuts to pensions and wages by 40% and 50% and subsequently secured re-election. “We still haven’t determined the method for engaging individuals in challenging matters.”
The Milei administration secured a US$20 billion loan with the IMF in May, in addition to the US$44 billion debt incurred by former President Mauricio Macri with the lender in 2018. Georgieva informed that the current program is not the inaugural collaboration between the agency and the nation — “but if I put my optimistic hat on, I can maybe say that it could be the last program of the IMF with Argentina,” further expressing her “dream” for “Argentina to be entirely on its own feet.” They possess all the essential components for economic success.
The head of the IMF commented as an Argentine delegation, headed by Economy Minister Luis Caputo, engages in negotiations regarding the specifics of a recently-announced bailout with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Washington. In late September, Bessent disclosed the loan, which may encompass the acquisition of the nation’s USD bonds, a stand-by credit line, and a US$20 billion swap with the Central Bank. Georgieva conveyed to Reuters her anticipation of forthcoming news regarding the bailout. President Javier Milei is scheduled to engage with his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump, at the White House on October 14. Meanwhile, Argentines are gearing up to cast their votes in the national midterms on October 26, as the government grapples with financial instability and corruption scandals linked to Milei’s close associates.
On Sunday, José Luis Espert, the party’s lead deputy candidate for Buenos Aires province, withdrew from the race after acknowledging that he had received US$200,000 from an alleged drug trafficker. In addition to the Espert scandal, in August, a series of leaked audio recordings indicated that the president’s sister and Presidency Secretary, Karina Milei, had allegedly accepted bribes from pharmaceutical companies in return for state contracts.