Isabella Ankerson - 29 April 2025
Lawyers say that Argentina's recent US$20 billion loan deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help revive its economy has already boosted global confidence in the market, creating a more “predictable” landscape for cross-border investments that is driving up the demand for legal services.
President Javier Milei announced the economic stabilisation plan and the four-year extended fund facility (EFF) with the IMF earlier thism month, receiving approval from IMF’s board on 11 April.
Argentina received an immediate payout of US$12 billion from the IMF, while a further US$2 billion will be dispersed in June.
Under Milei’s new economic stabilisation programme, Argentina’s Central Bank has also lifted regulations on foreign exchange rates to facilitate the incoming capital. This puts an end to former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s “crawling peg” system, where the value of the peso against the dollar was adjusted daily. Instead, the country has switched to a managed exchange rate that allows the value of local currency to fluctuate between 1,000 and 1,400 pesos to the US dollar –tying the peso to market demand. Meanwhile, the Central Bank can step in to avoid the exchange rate exceeding that limit.
Though it is too soon to assess how successful the IMF deal and Milei’s wider economic stabilisation plan will be, lawyers say that the initiatives offer a positive stride toward economic recovery that the market has not seen in years.
A promising future
The changes are set to bring heightened market certainty to Argentina, with investors already seeing it as a more reliable and desired destination for foreign capital.
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Diego Serrano Redonnet, partner at Elite outfit Pérez Alati, Grondona, Benites & Arntsen (PAGBAM), agrees that “the return to a 'normal’ economy, with low inflation, a predictable foreign exchange system and fiscal surplus, will no doubt restore the trust of investors in Argentine financial assets.”
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"The deregulation and market reform agenda of Argentina, supported by a strict fiscal discipline and a sound monetary and foreign exchange system as key policy anchors, will no doubt be the basis for a strong economic recovery already underway that is putting Argentina back on the map as a favourite destination for international investors," concludes Redonnet.
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