News Brief No. 02/114

News Brief: IMF Issues Press Statement on Argentina

November 14, 2002

Ms. Anne Krueger, First Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), issued the following statement today:

"We have made further progress with Minister Lavagna and his team this week. In particular, we have broadly agreed on the sequencing of an initial banking strategy and that there will be no further mandatory stays to the application of the insolvency law. The authorities have also agreed to seek the necessary consensus with the political leaders. There are, in addition, still some issues that remain to be resolved for the emerging program, affecting the monetary anchor, the federal and provincial fiscal framework for 2003, and the pricing and regulatory framework of the utilities. We expect discussions will continue in the coming days. The authorities have requested an extension of the Supplemental Reserve Facility expectation falling due on November 22 and management is preparing to recommend such an extension for the approval of the Executive Board. IMF management continues to coordinate closely with the managements of the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank on the dialogue with Argentina."