IMF keen to support Argentina, possibly through resilience trust: Georgieva

IMF chief Georgieva keen to support Argentina, meets with President-elect Milei in Washington. Fund's RST could provide low-interest loans to address macroeconomic imbalances, inflation and climate events. Milei also meets with Biden security aide, Clinton in NY. $44B IMF programme running out in 2024. Total pledges of $31.2B SDR from 18 members for RST.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is "very keen" to support Argentina and the country could be a candidate to receive financing through its Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST), the Fund's chief Kristalina Georgieva said.

Ms. Georgieva is expected to meet Argentina's President-elect Javier Milei in person during his visit to Washington on Tuesday. This follows a first virtual meeting between Milei and the Fund on Friday, which Georgieva described as a "very constructive engagement, very serious discussion".

"Let's see how the engagement goes - but good promising first step," Ms. Georgieva told Reuters in an interview late Monday.

"The most important way Argentina can help itself is by addressing the macroeconomic imbalances that have accumulated. But then again, we are very keen to support Argentina, address the deep problem of inflation, create an environment for private sector-led growth that can perk up employment and the economy overall."

Far-right libertarian Mr. Milei will also meet with a top security aide to U.S. President Joe Biden in Washington, the White House confirmed on Monday, after a lunch with former U.S. President Bill Clinton in New York.

Mr. Milei secured a stronger-than-expected election win and on December 10 is set to take the helm of South America's second largest economy, which is engulfed in an severe crisis that has seen inflation soar above 140% and net reserves sink deep into the red.

Ms. Georgieva said she was interested to discuss how Argentina could become be less vulnerable to climate events.