大象传媒

Argentina鈥檚 government and the International Monetary Fund have been renegotiating the terms of a 2018 loan issued to the country 鈥� the largest in IMF history. The Fund鈥檚 own internal analysis of that deal was scathing. The 2018 package had been vaunted for its commitment to protecting the most vulnerable in society. Yet people in Argentina, and particularly those on the lowest incomes, are currently enduring a cost of living crisis, with inflation running at above 50% in 2021, and wages struggling to keep pace with increased housing, food and energy costs. Amy Booth is a journalist in Argentina, and says many people have lost hope in the midst of the country鈥檚 seemingly interminable economic crisis. Daniel Munevar, who works on debt justice at the European Network on Debt and Development, says the IMF broke its own rules in order to issue the 2018 loan. Carolina Mill谩n is Bloomberg鈥檚 bureau chief in Buenos Aires, and tells us that the Fund鈥檚 decades-long association with austerity and misery in Argentina loom large over any potential new deal between the two parties. Former IMF executive director and Argentine diplomat H茅ctor Torres says he鈥檚 sceptical that a prospective 22nd loan from the lender to the country will end differently to previous failures. Argentina isn鈥檛 the only country struggling with debt, either. Former IMF chief economist Ken Rogoff says that more than half of the world鈥檚 poorest nations are currently in debt distress or default.

Presented by Ed Butler, produced by Tom Kavanagh.

(Photo: Left-wing protesters in Buenos Aires carry a banner reading, 鈥渂reak with the IMF, don鈥檛 pay the debt鈥�; Credit: Getty Images)