El Sr. Arroz

Transcript of a Press Briefing by Gerry Rice, Director, External Relations Department, International Monetary Fund
Washington, D.C.
Thursday, January 12, 2012


MR. RICE: I have a slew of questions on Argentina and I want to make sure our online participants get a chance here. There are several questions, "This month ends the period of 180 days that the IMF gave Argentina to start normalizing its statistics. There is no sign that this has happened. What will the IMF do about this? In the event that Argentina has not fulfilled expectations, does the IMF apply a sanction? What kind of sanction? Argentina still does not accept Article IV. Does the IMF have any updated opinion or resolution about this situation?”

Let me try and uncluster those questions a bit and say that of course we welcome any opportunity to deepen our dialogue with Argentina. We maintain a regular bilateral dialogue with the authorities including through our Resident Representative on the ground. On the specific issue of the statistics, I can tell you that we expect that there will be a Board meeting to assess progress toward the end of January or the beginning of February on this topic and we would expect to provide a statement on the outcome of the Board meeting upon its completion. The Executive Board will assess progress made and decide on any necessary measures based on staff recommendations. It's too soon right now to determine what those recommendations will be, but I can say the Board meeting will not result in any sanctions on Argentina.