Argentina May Soon Receive Planned Aid

The Bush administration signaled support for accelerating planned loans to Argentina, which is struggling to contain a financial crisis.

The Treasury Department’s top international official was heading to Argentina on an emergency fact-finding trip. Undersecretary John Taylor said before his departure for meetings in Buenos Aires that he believed there was a good chance the disbursement of new loans to Argentina by the International Monetary Fund would be approved soon.

He said officials also were considering a range of other options, but he would not specify what ideas were on the table.

Argentina was scheduled to receive an additional $2.4 billion in IMF loans this year, with the next installment expected to be approved in September.

Taylor spoke to reporters after the White House announced that President Bush telephoned Argentine President Fernando de la Rua to express support for his efforts to stabilize the country’s finances by imposing a government austerity program.

Taylor said the U.S. favored releasing the $1.2-billion September loan to Argentina early.

Taylor would not say whether the U.S. would support increasing the size of the IMF loan package.