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BCN-24
ARGENTINA-MARKET-IMF
Buenos Aires stock exchange soars 8.6 percent on IMF deal
BUENOS AIRES, June 22, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – The Buenos Aires stock exchange
soared more than 8.6 percent at opening on Thursday on news of the formal
approval of the International Monetary Fund for a $50 billion aid package.
The fund’s executive board approved on Wednesday the agreement Argentina
struck with IMF staff earlier this month.
Vocal street protests and threatened labor strikes have greeted Argentine
President Mauricio Macri’s decision to seek IMF financing.
Argentina plans to draw on the first $15 billion tranche of the aid
program, of which half will be used for budget support, while treating the
remaining $35 billion as “precautionary,” according to the IMF.
Christine Lagarde, the IMF’s managing director, has heaped praise on
Argentina’s plans for economic reform but insisted the decisions were made in
Buenos Aires and not handed down from the Washington-based fund.
“The approval today is clear evidence of the international community’s
trust in Argentina’s reform drive and support for the government economic
plan backed by the fund,” she told reporters on Wednesday, which was a public
holiday in Argentina.
“This is a plan which was designed and which is owned by Argentine
authorities. It takes into account their domestic situation. It is geared
towards strengthening the economy for the benefit of all Argentines.”
The country has a bitter history with the global crisis lender, which many
Argentines view as having imposed tough conditions that worsened economic
pain 17 years ago.
The stock exchange also celebrated Argentina’s return to the MSCI Emerging
Markets Index from mid-2019, according to a statement released Wednesday by
the New York-based financial services company.
The MSCI Indices serve as a guide for institutional investors to build
their equity portfolio, which is synonymous with investment.
BSS/AFP/HR/1045