The International Monetary Fund and Argentina are both "fully committed" to working towards a new program, the lender said on Friday, though more talks were needed after recent meetings between officials from the two sides in Washington.
Argentina is racing to agree a new deal with the IMF to help push back some $45 billion in repayments it cannot make after years of debt and currency crises. A team had recently met with Fund staff and "advanced technical work" on the deal.
"There were general understandings on the need to gradually and sustainably improve public finances, while allowing for much-needed infrastructure, technology, and targeted social spending," the IMF said in a statement.
It said Argentina needed a "multi-pronged approach" to tackle rampant inflation, running at over 50% annually, which would involve reducing monetary financing of the fiscal deficit, positive real interest rates, and wage-price coordination.
"While further discussions are needed, the IMF team and the Argentine authorities remain fully committed to their collective work on a framework and policies for an IMF-supported program," it added.
(Reporting by Adam Jourdan)
