By Jorgelina do Rosario
LONDON (Reuters) – Argentina presidential candidate Javier Milei is set to meet International Monetary Fund (IMF) representatives on Friday, just days after a shock primary election sent the cash-strapped nation’s markets reeling.
Speaking in a radio interview on Thursday, Congressman Milei said he will participate in the discussions. He is expected to be joined by his economic advisers Carlos Rodriguez, Roque Fernandez and Dario Epstein, according to a person familiar with the discussions.
The director of the Fund’s Western Hemisphere Department Rodrigo Valdes and the mission Chief for Argentina Luis Cubeddu are set to be in the virtual meeting.
A spokesperson for the IMF did not immediately respond to a request for comment during early U.S. hours.
Right-wing Milei got 30% of the vote in Sunday’s election, the most of all the candidates ahead of the Oct. 22 presidential vote.
The 52-year-old economist has a bold vision to dollarize the economy, get rid of the central bank, cut government spending and eliminate and cut taxes, among other measures.
The surprise result sparked turmoil in the country’s bond and currency markets, triggering the central bank to hike interest rates by 21 percentage points and the government to devalue the currency by 18%.Argentina’s economy is the largest debtor to the Washington-based lender, with a $44 billion loan.
IMF’s executive board will meet on Aug. 23 to discuss a $7.5 billion disbursement to Argentina after it reached a staff level agreement on two combined reviews of the programme in July.
With negative net foreign currency reserves and a maze of capital controls to protect the plunging peso, the country needs the IMF money to repay the Fund’s maturities.
Milei will face the conservative opposition candidate Patricia Bullrich and the Peronist and Economy Minister Sergio Massa in the vote.
(Reporting by Jorgelina do Rosario, editing by)
