The International Monetary Fund’s executive board completed the first review of Argentina’s 48-month, $20 billion Extended Fund Facility, unlocking an immediate disbursement of roughly $2 billion. The decision, announced late on 31 July, follows a staff-level agreement reached a week earlier and brings total IMF payouts under the programme to about $14 billion. In its statement, the Fund praised the Milei administration’s “strong initial implementation” of tight fiscal and monetary policies, citing lower inflation and continued growth, even as it acknowledged Argentina missed a mid-June goal for building net international reserves. Directors granted a waiver for that shortfall and urged authorities to safeguard the fiscal anchor, rebuild reserves and push structural reforms aimed at opening the economy and boosting investment. The approval comes amid renewed pressure on the peso, which slid 13.6% in July to around 1,380 per U.S. dollar—its worst monthly performance in over a year. Economy Minister Luis Caputo described the move as an “exaggerated” reaction to pre-election uncertainty but said the board’s endorsement and a revised, more flexible reserves-accumulation timetable should reassure markets ahead of mid-term elections in October.