Argentina makes down payment on restructured IMF loan

Argentina on Friday made a $1.28-billion down payment on a $45 billion loan with the International Monetary Fund, the terms of which were recently renegotiated, the economy ministry said.

The payments were made from a $4-billion disbursement received from the IMF two weeks ago after a review of Argentina's adherence to the renegotiated loan agreement.

Also Friday, Argentina paid interest of $425.6 million on a separate loan of $66 billion with private international creditors, which was itself restructured in 2020.

The country has lived through a nervous few days since Economy Minister Martin Guzman stepped down on Saturday amid political infighting at the highest levels of government.

Guzman had been the architect of the restructuring deal of the 2018 loan with the IMF. Without an agreement, the country had been at risk of default.

Argentina is just emerging from three years of recession and battling a high poverty rate and rising inflation already over 60 percent.

Guzman's replacement, Silvina Batakis, had her first meeting on Wednesday with IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva.

In the first quarter of 2022, Argentina's total debt stood at $376 billion, some 80 of GDP, according to official figures.