BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Argentina’s newly appointed economy minister Silvina Batakis will meet on Monday with the head of the International Monetary Fund in Washington, the government said, as Argentina’s economy struggles with spiraling inflation.
Argentina is the IMF’s largest debtor with a $44 billion program that was approved by the board in late March. Argentina’s peso currency also fell to record lows this week, weighed down by a stronger dollar worldwide and a domestic political crisis.
Batakis was appointed less than a month ago after her predecessor Martin Guzman, the architect of the debt deal with the IMF, abruptly resigned with inflation running at over 60% a year and expected to continue rising.
Batakis, who has said she will respect the IMF accord, will meet IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva. They have already spoken by phone in what Georgieva described on Twitter as a “very good call.”
Argentine President Alberto Fernandez was scheduled to travel to Washington as well to meet with U.S. President Joe Biden, but the meeting was canceled after Biden contracted COVID-19.
Batakis is also set to meet with representatives of the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the World Bank, the government said.
(Reporting by Eliana Raszewski; editing by Marcelo Rochabrun and Grant McCool)
