Argentina's President to Sue Mauricio Macri Over IMF Loan

Argentina's President Alberto Fernandez on Monday announced that he will file a criminal complaint against former President Mauricio Macri's administration (2015-2019) for an irregular loan request to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

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"A US$44 billion loan... vanished before the administration changed in December 2019," Fernandez said and accused Macri of embezzling public funds.

The former president took on the debt without prior legislative debate. The Constitution requires this type of loan to be previously approved by Parliament.

"The indebtedness in which Macri left Argentina will not go unpunished," Fernandez said as he highlighted the mediating role of former President Donald Trump's administration on the loan acquisition.

In 2020, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) President Mauricio Claver-Carone acknowledged influencing the IMF when he was a White House official for Argentina to get its debt.

Fernandez's government has focused its efforts on renegotiating the foreign debt with private bondholders and it has discussed with the Fund to improve payment terms.

In the last year, Argentina's poverty increased to 40.9 percent due to the crisis caused by the pandemic which worsened living conditions in the most vulnerable sectors.