logo
episode-header-image
Feb 2022
17m 54s

Argentina’s latest IMF crisis

Bbc World Service
About this episode

Argentina’s government and the International Monetary Fund have been renegotiating the terms of a 2018 loan issued to the country – the largest in IMF history. The Fund’s 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’s 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 Millán is Bloomberg’s bureau chief in Buenos Aires, and tells us that the Fund’s 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 Héctor Torres says he’s sceptical that a prospective 22nd loan from the lender to the country will end differently to previous failures. Argentina isn’t the only country struggling with debt, either. Former IMF chief economist Ken Rogoff says that more than half of the world’s 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, “break with the IMF, don’t pay the debt”; Credit: Getty Images)

Up next
Yesterday
Business Daily meets: Max Levchin
The fintech entrepreneur tells us about co-founding PayPal, and how an embarrassing personal moment when trying to buy a car, led him to start the buy now, pay later company Affirm.Produced and presented by Leanna Byrne(Image: PayPal Co-Founder & Affirm CEO Max Levchin in 2019. C ... Show More
17m 34s
Jul 9
The impact of 'thirsty' data centres
We're in the US state of Georgia, where huge data centres need water to keep cool. But how is this need for cloud storage and AI capability affecting local residents and the environment?Presenter: Michelle Fleury Producer: Nathalie Jimenez(Image: Georgia resident Beverly Morris l ... Show More
17m 50s
Jul 8
Does university still get you a well-paid job?
Graduates are facing one of the toughest jobs markets in decades. We hear from students in India, the US and UK about whether they feel a university or college degree is worth it as we discuss the cost of attending university around the world and what your job prospects might be ... Show More
17m 27s
Recommended Episodes
Aug 2023
Lessons From Argentina
On today’s show we are taking a look at what can happen when politicians print too much money. The US, Japan, Canada, the UK, and Europe, China and many others are all at risk of becoming financially unstable.  Argentina has a history of being fiscally irresponsible. The country ... Show More
7m 14s
Nov 2021
Argentina vs the IMF
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.comhttps://www.ft.com/content/22e5487a-3e75-46db-abf0-c8e5e5fd7ad4 The Federal Reserve said it would begin scaling back its massive $120bn monthly bond-buying programme this month, the British government has approached Qatar with the intent ... Show More
9m 6s
Oct 2022
IMF says a third of the global economy will be in recession next year
The International Monetary Fund has warned that "the worst is yet to come" and next year may feel like a recession. It blames the war in Ukraine and rising prices worldwide. The BBC’s Business Correspondent Michelle Fleury joins us from the IMF in Washington DC. Meanwhile, the do ... Show More
27m 49s
Jul 2023
Argentina and the IMF reach agreement on a last minute loan
Argentina has reached a $7.5bn agreement with the International Monetary Fund, as it tries to get its troubled economy back on track. The South American nation has been in negotiations with the Fund for months over its $44 billion loan program. That's the biggest outstanding deal ... Show More
27m 8s
Sep 2023
A black market, a currency crisis, and a tango competition in Argentina
The Nobel-prize winning economist Simon Kuznets once analyzed the world's economies this way — he said there are four kinds of countries: developed, underdeveloped, Japan... and Argentina. If you want to understand what happens when inflation really goes off the rails, go to Arge ... Show More
23m 57s
Oct 2022
Global recession risk rises as IMF lowers growth forecast
The IMF says the risk of a global recession has increased as it lowers its growth forecast for the coming year. Its managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, said the gloomy outlook was fuelled by Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the continuing impact of the Covid pandemic. Hong K ... Show More
50m 46s
Jan 2023
IMF: Third of world in recession this year
A third of the global economy will be in recession this year, the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned. Kristalina Georgieva said 2023 will be "tougher" than last year as the US, EU and China see their economies slow. We ask a former IMF chief economist about ... Show More
27m 22s
Dec 2023
Does Argentina need a central bank?
In his election pledges President-Elect Javier Milei promised the people of Argentina two things. First, he would do dollarize the economy. He’d ditch the Peso and replace it with the, already widely used, UD dollar. Secondly, he would abandon the central bank, who he blames for ... Show More
48m 39s