IMF says Argentina could get aid

Finance Minister Lenicov (left) left Washington empty-handed

By Andrew Walker BBC economics correspondent in Washington

The deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Anne Krueger, has said there is reason to believe the Argentine authorities can do what is needed to reach an agreement for financial assistance.

Ms Krueger was speaking after the spring meetings of the IMF and the World Bank in Washington, where the Argentine crisis cast a shadow over the proceedings.

After a debt default and a currency devaluation, Argentina is now trying to save its banking system.

It wants IMF help, but the Finance Minister, Jorge Remes Lenicov, left Washington over the weekend empty-handed.

Task list

He met top IMF officials and heard what has become a familiar list of tasks that Argentina must address before it gets support.

One is a system for keeping inflation in check.

Ms Krueger believes Argentina can do what is needed to get aid

The IMF also wants improved bankruptcy laws to encourage the reorganisation of businesses in financial difficulty.

And there is the politically charged issue of the control of spending by the provincial governments.

Ms Krueger believes that can be resolved.

"The Argentine authorities tell us that they are confident that they can get an agreement with the governors, so we believe that there is good reason to believe that they can bring forward the things that need doing so that we can reach an agreement," she said.

The concerns at the meetings over the weekend about Argentina's dire economic circumstances were a striking contrast with the sense of relief about the increasing evidence of a global recovery after last year's slowdown.

There was also agreement to put together detailed proposals for dealing with country debt crises -proposals that would in effect force creditors to accept a payment standstill and renegotiate the debt.

There is a lot of work to do before these ideas become reality and they are of course far too late to be any help to Argentina.