Argentina has repaid the United States the funds it received under a $20 billion credit line tied to currency-exchange operations, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Friday.
Bessent said the government of President Javier Milei “reembolsó rápida y completamente su limitada línea de crédito” after an agreement reached last October, according to a post on the social media platform X.
In that post, Bessent said, “Estabilizar a un fuerte aliado estadounidense, y generar decenas de millones en ganancias para los estadounidenses, es un gran logro.”
Argentina’s central bank confirmed the payment and said it was completed in December, according to the report.
The credit line was described as a “rescue” that provided dollar liquidity to Milei’s administration and helped prevent a market downturn ahead of the legislative elections held in October. In those elections, Milei’s Libertarian Party won a major victory, consolidating support for his austerity program and restoring some investor confidence, the report said.
Bessent said the repayment also affected the U.S. Exchange Stabilization Fund used for the arrangement, adding that after Argentina’s deposit the fund no longer had Argentine pesos.
He also said the United States has “marcar el rumbo para América Latina, una Argentina fuerte y estable que ayude a consolidar un hemisferio occidental próspero” in its interest in the outcome.
The repayment was described as a step toward restoring confidence in Argentina’s economy, which the report said has been in a chronically difficult situation for decades. Bessent further said Argentina “continúa cumpliendo con firmeza el mandato renovado del pueblo argentino en favor de la libertad económica” and added that it has regained access to financial markets and made changes to its monetary and exchange-rate framework.
Argentina’s Economy Minister Luis Caputo thanked the Trump administration for what he said was its “confianza en nuestra política económica” and called the news “excelente,” writing on X that it was “una excelente realidad para nuestro país haber podido construir esta alianza geopolítica y saber que contamos con el apoyo explícito del país más importante del mundo.”
Even with the December repayment, the report said Argentina’s foreign-currency reserves remain at fairly low levels, and that the country would face renewed pressure this year from debts accumulated through earlier loans from the International Monetary Fund and other organizations.
Batschke reported from Santiago, Chile.