Claudio Loser, visiting senior fellow at the Inter-American Dialogue, president of Centennial Group Latin America and former head of the Western Hemisphere Department of the International Monetary Fund: “While no official negotiations are taking place, it is understood that there are conversations about a follow up program supported by the IMF, with some new funding. From a financial point of view, Argentina does not need an arrangement now to repay its debts to the IMF. Repayment obligations start only in the second half of 2026. Interest payments need to be made, but Argentina has benefited from a general reduction of fees and charges to all IMF debtors, a net gain to the country. Under these circumstances, the Milei government may be thinking of a scenario with no new arrangement from the IMF, and thus free from its conditions. This is an unwise strategy. A new program would provide a ‘quality seal of approval’ to the economic plan of the government…”