Argentina receives Portugal’s support to negotiate IMF debt

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – “We will try to sensitize the IMF so that during the crisis we may suspend the interest rate surcharge,” said the Prime Minister of Portugal.

Argentine President Alberto Fernández on Monday announced that he received the support of Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa to negotiate the debt with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The European country’s support was granted in the first meeting (of several planned throughout the week) held by the Argentine head of state on the old continent. Now President Fernández will seek support from countries such as France, Spain and Italy to face the debt inherited by ex-president Mauricio Macri.

“We will try to sensitize the IMF so that at least during this crisis the overcharging of rates may be suspended,” said Costa, who agreed with President Fernández that the vaccine against Covid-19 is a global good.

“When I came to the Government in 2015 I found the same problem that Argentina has: as the loan was higher than Portugal’s quota in the Fund, we were paying an interest rate with a very significant surcharge,” pointed out the Portuguese Prime Minister.

The Argentine head of state said that since his inauguration as pro-tempore president of the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR), relations with the European Union (EU) have been strengthened, “we took advantage of the opportunity to make progress on issues that link both continents and in which we have no contradictions or points of disagreement, such as those related to climate change, environmental care and forest conservation,” he added.