Argentina agrees $50bn package with IMF

Following crisis

Argentina has reached an agreement to receive a $50bn loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over a three-year period, as the country looks to halt rising inflation and improve its struggling economy.

Subject to approval from the IMF board, reports initially suggested the loan would be $30bn when President Mauricio Macri appealed to the IMF on 8 May for an emergency package in an effort to avoid a financial crash and rescue the currency. Macri faced a political backlash following the appeal to the IMF as many blamed it for the country's crisis in 2001 and 2002, which saw the country's largest default in history. The IMF said in a statement that the government has committed to rebalancing its fiscal position as a priority while "redoubling" its efforts to lower inflation. Accordi...