 The support of the IMF is key for Argentina |
The International Monetary Fund has said talks with Argentina about billions of dollars of outstanding debts were "useful and constructive". Argentina's Economy Minister Roberto Lavagna and IMF managing director Horst Koehler met in Miami on Monday.
Over the weekend, the Group of Seven industrial nations criticised Argentina for not doing enough to negotiate repayments with bondholders.
That had prompted concerns that the IMF could withhold its next tranche of aid.
Helping hand
Without IMF support, Argentina is likely to miss repayments on loans it used to finance the country after defaulting on almost $100bn (�54bn; 79bn euros) of bonds in 2001.
Under its aid agreement, the IMF is scheduled to revise economic targets for Argentina before approving the next installment of a $13.3 billion loan.
Before the meeting, an economic ministry spokesman said Mr Lavagna would try to reassure to Mr Koehler that Argentina was taking steps to repay bondholders.
G7 members, which include the US, Canada, France, Britain, Germany, Italy and Japan, are unhappy at what they see as Argentina dragging its heels.
They point to the fact that the country still hasn't appointed a bank to advise it on how to restructure the outstanding debts.
They also want Argentina to offer to repay more than it has so far, something the Latin American country says it cannot do without compromising its economic well-being.
One-Minute World News 
News services
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version