The Argentine president is ready to start the official agenda in Rome

Argentina’s president is ready to start the official agenda in Rome

Saturday 30 October 2021 – 09:30 UTC

Fernandez will meet with most world leaders, but neither Biden nor Pope Francis

Argentine President Alberto Fernandez arrived in Rome on Friday to attend the G20 summit. But while in the Italian capital, he will also have other appointments, such as a meeting with International Monetary Fund CEO Kristalina Georgieva to discuss repaying the country’s $44 billion debt.

Fernandez will formally launch his agenda in Rome on Saturday with Georgieva’s meeting, but he will also hold other meetings with the leaders of Germany, Spain and the European Union.

On Sunday, he will meet Argentine Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

But he will not meet his fellow Argentine Pope Francis this time.

Fernandez’s entourage consisted of First Lady Fabiola Yanez, Minister of Foreign Affairs Santiago Cafiero and Minister of Agriculture Julian Dominguez. Environment Minister Juan Cabande and Argentine Ambassador to the United States Jorge Arguelo. Economic Affairs Minister Martin Guzman was already waiting for him on Italian soil.

Guzmán has already met with Georgieva and Maxima, as well as other finance ministers who attended the event.

Fernandez hopes that the G-20 summit will end with a statement in favor of reducing the so-called “additional duties” imposed on countries that have received more than their contribution to the International Monetary Fund, as is the case in Argentina. The Argentine government would like to reduce the surcharge from 3% to 1%, which means annual savings of $900 million.

The Argentine president also hopes to return to Buenos Aires with a document signed by top world leaders recommending a third credit line with longer maturities than the current one. It will act as a “flexibility fund” that will serve as a key for Argentina to extend the repayment terms beyond the currently allowed 10 years that choke Argentina’s economy after loans were abandoned by former President Mauricio Macri. The Argentine delegation was confident that an agreement would be reached before the end of the year.

The Argentine president was very interested in a one-on-one meeting with US President Joseph Biden, but diplomatic sources believed this was unlikely while he was in Rome. But Glasgow was not left behind.