(Reuters) -Credit ratings agency Fitch on Monday upgraded Argentina’s long-term foreign-currency and local-currency issuer default rating to “CCC+” from “CCC”, citing the launch of a new International Monetary Fund (IMF) program and the liberalization of the foreign-exchange market that have boosted the country’s external liquidity.
“The economic recovery and disinflation have already exceeded our prior expectations and should be further supported by these policy changes,” Fitch said in a statement.
The South American country last month sealed a $20 billion extended fund facility with the IMF and dismantled large parts of its currency controls as libertarian President Javier Milei looks to drag the country out of a prolonged economic slump.
The IMF had already disbursed $12 billion in April, while another $2 billion will become available by June.
Milei’s administration has rolled out tough austerity measures, which have helped bring inflation down, but the spending pinch has also fueled protests, with workers paralyzing the country in a nationwide strike in April.
(Reporting by Anandita Mehrotra in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)
Comments