Monday April 17, 2023 | 9:20 a.m.
Before his return, Massa was able to talk with the director of the IMF, Kristalina Georgieva.
Before his return, Massa was able to talk with the director of the IMF, Kristalina Georgieva.
The Minister of Economy, Sergio Massa, agreed to the approval of loans for almost 2,500 million dollars with multilateral financial organizations and investment funds, after a week of intense negotiations in Washington, within the framework of the Fund’s Spring Assembly. International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB). Massa met with the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, after agreeing to reformulate the program with the organization itself due to the impact of the drought on national reserves. The head of the Palace of Finance previously held a meeting with the first deputy managing director of the IMF, Gita Gopinath, in which they evaluated the impact of the drought and agreed on the need to reformulate the program that Argentina has with the organization. Gopinath highlighted the “good meeting” with the minister on the social network Twitter and detailed the topics of the meeting in similar terms.
The minister also met with the new World Bank (WB) Managing Director of Operations, Anna Bjerde, and announced that the entity will disburse 950 million dollars in the coming months for various projects addressing the impact of the drought in Argentina. Bjerde ratified the solid support of the institution to our country, especially after the strong impact of the drought, which translates into projects being prepared for May and June for 950 million dollars, according to a statement released by the Palacio de Hacienda. Also present at the meeting were Carlos Felipe Jaramillo, World Bank Vice President for Latin America and the Caribbean; the executive director for Argentina and the Southern Cone, Cecilia Nahón; and Marianne Fay, representative of the entity in the country. On her Twitter account, Bjerde stated that “Argentina is experiencing its worst drought since 1906” and reiterated that the World Bank is “a key partner in ensuring a sustainable return to growth and long-term resilience.” This is not the only disbursement of the WB for Argentina, because on Saturday Massa himself and his partner from Education, Jaime Perczyk, announced in Washington a 42% increase in Progresar scholarships, after agreeing with the organization a financing of 300 million of dollars. The increase in scholarships “will make it possible to continue strengthening educational trajectories by raising the amount received by 1,700,000 young people to 12,780 pesos,” said the Minister of Economy. In another of the programs to which Argentina agreed, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) approved a loan of 200 million dollars that will finance improvements in the Argentine health system. This is the first individual operation of a conditional credit line for investment projects (CCLIP) of US$ 600 million. In this line, through the credit obtained, actions will be financed to reduce premature mortality and close the gaps in access to health services between jurisdictions of the country.
To this end, the initiative seeks to increase effective access to diagnostic and care services by the population that is exclusively covered by the public health system, estimated at 20.5 million people in 2022. It will also allow for increased screening for cancer cervical cancer in women with exclusive public coverage and increase the vaccination rate for Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) for girls and boys aged 11 years. Another objective is to increase the identification and follow-up of people with high blood pressure and with hyperglycemia or diabetes. In addition, the credit obtained by Argentina will support the implementation of the Community Mental Health Model and will increase the number of mental health medications delivered to health facilities. At the same time, the person in charge of the economic portfolio held a meeting with the CEO of the Saudi Development Fund (Saudi Development Fund), Sultan bin Abdulrahman Al-Marshad, with whom he agreed a disbursement for Argentina of 500 million dollars that will finance construction works. infrastructure. Financing from the Saudi Fund will be directed to the health, food and energy sectors, among which the Néstor Kirchner Gas Pipeline stands out. Likewise, among the projects financed, the financing of electric transmission lines and provincial Sovereign Guaranteed projects stands out.
