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ECONOMY | 24-07-2018 00:30

IMF slashes Argentina's annual growth forecast to 0.4%

The IMF wants the Macri administration to implement a package of austerity measures tied to the US$50 billion stand-by loan it recently granted Argentina.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has slashed its growth outlook for Argentina from two to 0.4 percent of Growth Domestic Product (GDP) in 2018.

Its updated forecast was announced on Monday, less than a day after the IMF's Managing Director Christine Lagarde departed Argentina, where she attended the G20 Meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors. 

In Buenos Aires, Lagarde also met with several Mauricio Macri government officials to discuss the austerity measures linked to the US$50 billion stand-by loan package the IMF granted Argentina in June.

The IMF wants to see the Macri administration implement an austerity programme to the tune of 300 billion pesos (US$10.7 billion) in spending cuts.

In April, the IMF had forecast annual growth for Argentina in 2018 at two percent. However, the steep devaluation of the peso and an overall deceleration of the country’s economy in the second quarter of the year forced a recalculation.

The IMF also cut its 2019 growth forecast for Argentina from 3.2 percent to 1.5 percent, while reiterating its position that the country's economy with "gradually" rebound.

-TIMES/PERFIL

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