Argentina: Eighth Review Under the Extended Arrangement Under the Extended Fund Facility, Requests for Modification of Performance Criteria, Waivers of Nonobservance of Performance Criteria, and Financing Assurances Review-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Argentina

Decisive implementation of the stabilization plan—centered on a strong fiscal anchor with no new monetary financing, and relative price corrections—has led to twin fiscal and external surpluses, a marked turnaround in reserves, faster-than-expected disinflation, a bolstering of the BCRA’s balance sheet and a reduction in sovereign spreads to multi-year lows. Selected easing of FX restrictions and deregulatory efforts are improving resource allocation. Nevertheless, macroeconomic imbalances and growth bottlenecks remain sizable and a long and difficult adjustment process still lies ahead, where policies need to evolve to build on earlier gains and support a turnaround in activity. Efforts are also underway to build political and societal support for reforms, as well as to scale up social assistance to protect the most vulnerable and ensure the burden of the adjustment does not fall disproportionally on working families. That said, delays in securing key legislation in Congress have led to some market volatility.