IMF Backs Negotiator Who Drew Milei’s Ire in Argentina Aid Talks
- Managing director has ‘full confidence’ in Chilean official
- President implicitly criticized Valdes as too left leaning
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The head of the International Monetary Fund is standing by her top negotiator as the lender weighs the future of Argentina’s $44 billion program after President Javier Milei coyly criticized the official.
Western Hemisphere Director Rodrigo Valdes is the most senior IMF official leading talks with Milei’s government, which is seeking fresh funding in an eventual new program. The libertarian president referenced Valdes in a radio interview last month without explicitly naming him, criticizing the IMF official’s time as finance minister in Chile from 2015 to 2017, suggesting his economic ideology was too left leaning.