Buenos Aires, January 21 (NA) – The head of the IMF, Kristalina Georgieva, today highlighted the 'strong performance of the Argentine economy' and praised the 'progress in the accumulation of reserves' following a brief meeting with Economy Minister Luis Caputo at the Davos forum. They held a conversation, after which the head of the Monetary Fund posted her positive comments about Argentina. 'I appreciate the strong performance of the Argentine economy and the progress in the accumulation of reserves,' said Georgieva, posting a picture hugging the minister in the forum corridors in front of a cloakroom. The conversation took place as the Central Bank bought $107 million this Wednesday. In this way, purchases totaled $823 million in January, and gross reserves increased to $45.077 billion—their highest level since September 2021—while the retail dollar fell by 5 pesos to $1,455. In this scenario, the IMF is preparing to send a mission to Argentina in February and advance the second program review, an audit in which compliance with the targets and the progress of the reforms are evaluated. The government needs to approve this stage to obtain a disbursement of $1,000 million. Although the fiscal target has been met, the government had a deviation in reserves of $10,000 million, so it is expected to request a waiver. On the other hand, Caputo must face an interest payment to the IMF of $824 million on February 1, after having paid $4,200 million to bondholders on January 9. During the activities in Davos, the minister also held a talk with the head of the Inter-American Development Bank, Ilan Goldfajn. 'It was great the brief exchange with Luis Caputo in Davos.'
