By Horacio Soria and Claudia Martini
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Argentine President Alberto Fernandez and a week of protesters in Buenos Aires Four against the International Monetary Fund (IMF) lender as the country faces nearly 109 percent inflation and dwindling dollar reserves.
South American grain producers, which have a history of tension with the IMF, agreed to join Washington-based under former Conservative leader Mauricio Macri. Agency launches a 44 billion dollar program to prevent economic crisis. That failed and was replaced by a new billion dollar deal last year.
But tensions have risen as a severe drought hit Argentina’s largest food export, the source of the dollar, forcing the two sides back to the negotiating table to revise the agreement. Buenos Aires wants faster payments and easier economic goals.
“It’s not just debt, it’s a crime,” President Fernandez wrote in a tweet on Thursday, citing a new government audit report that ended the initial The deal lacked the necessary impact studies and did not pass through the proper legislative channels.
Fernandez, who has previously criticized the original deal, called for an investigation “with the full force of the law”.
The powerful but divisive vice-president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, a two-term president, called the initial deal “disgraceful” , is a “hoax” by the Argentine people.
Macri IMF defends original deal necessary to restore economic stability in Argentina. Critics of the current government accuse it of printing money to fund state spending, which they say stokes inflation and weakens the peso.
The IMF declined to comment on the fresh criticism of the deal.
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In the streets of Buenos Aires on Thursday, thousands of Argentines marched against the dire economic situation and the IMF, which many accused of implementing Austerity measures were imposed, exacerbating Argentina’s worst economic crisis in two decades.
“We fear that the IMF will meddle in Argentina’s own internal problems,” says protester Norma Morales, who defends government subsidies as essential, especially as poverty levels rise to about %.
“Many pensioners on the minimum pension are at risk Among them, many women who receive the Universal Child Allowance are also at risk – a right that allows children to continue learning and eating. Children in our country cannot be guaranteed two plates of food a day.”
(This story has been refiled to correct attribution)
