Argentina’s anti-establishment candidate Milei engages IMF in economic talks after shock primary win

By DANIEL POLITI and GISELA SALOMON
Associated Press

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Argentina’s right-wing populist presidential candidate Javier Milei has met with International Monetary Fund officials to explain his economic proposals for the country, days after he became the surprise front-runner for the October election.  Milei is an anti-establishment conservative who wants to get rid of the Central Bank and replace the local currency with the dollar. He shocked the South American country’s political establishment by receiving the most votes in national primaries Sunday. Argentina currently has a 30-month $44 billion loan program with the IMF. During the virtual meeting, Milei and members of his economic team assured IMF officials  they had no intention of stopping payments on the IMF loan nor defaulting on any of the country’s debts.