IMF Staff Approve Argentina's Third Review, Clearing the Way for $900 Million as Cavallo Urges Milei to Lift Currency Controls

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) reached a staff-level agreement with Argentina on the third review of its 48-month Extended Fund Facility. If the Executive Board approves it, Argentina will have access to about $900 million, according to the IMF's statement. The board will consider the agreement in early December, Clarín reported. The Fund said Argentina's central bank bought about $16 billion so far in 2026 and that net international reserves exceeded the end-June target by about $4 billion, Infobae reported.

The statement was positive in tone but limited in substance. Clarín noted that the Fund called the results "impressive" and asked for a flexible exchange rate, but did not report whether Argentina met its fiscal target. IMF staff praised President Javier Milei's "prudent fiscal and monetary policies" and an improved central-bank balance sheet, but toned down their language on Argentina's return to international credit markets, the Buenos Aires Times reported.

Domingo Cavallo, the former economy minister who designed Argentina's 1991 convertibility plan, criticized the government's approach. He called for freeing the purchase and sale of dollars and compared official intervention to the controls of Guillermo Moreno, the commerce secretary under the Kirchner governments, Ámbito reported. Cavallo also questioned restrictions on companies and asked the government to extend the benefits of its large-investment incentive regime (RIGI) to the whole economy.

Credit conditions show strain among small firms. Loan delinquency at micro-enterprises is close to 18%, five times the rate at large companies, and most firms that refinanced their debts have not improved, Ámbito reported.