Argentina to pay its IMF debt with yuan due to dollar shortage

For the first time, Argentina paid $2.7 billion to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in a payment that came in Chinese yuan due to the shortage of the U.S. dollar, the Ministry of Economy announced on Friday.

In order to avoid the use of more foreign currency reserves, payment would be made “in part with SDRs and yuan without the use of the central bank reserve,” said government spokeswoman Gabrielle Charette on Thursday.

Last year, Argentina has reached an agreement with the Monetary Fund to reschedule a $44 billion loan granted in 2018 under President Mauricio Macri. Argentina received the Fund’s largest assistance programme, at a time when inflation exceeded 100 percent year-on-year.

The South American country announced in April that it would use the yuan to pay for Chinese imports instead of the U.S. dollar in order to maintain its reserve following a currency exchange agreement with Beijing.