Kezia McKeague, regional director at McLarty Associates: “For Argentina’s famously volatile economy, the long-awaited debt restructuring with the IMF is good news—for the short term. Despite justified criticism of the agreement’s lack of ambition, it avoids the worst-case scenario of an imminent sovereign default and greater financial turmoil just as Argentina risks depleting its international reserves. The IMF did not demand significant belt-tightening apart from the politically sensitive issue of energy subsidies; instead, the program consists of a very gradual fiscal adjustment that relies on improved tax collection, without a structural reform agenda that could put Argentina’s economy on a more sustainable path. Economy Minister Martín Guzmán succeeded in arguing that a new deal must preclude austerity measures that could hurt economic recovery after a prolonged recession exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. For critics, however, the agreement simply punts Argentina’s structural problems to the next administration…”