Argentine President-elect Fernandez holds call with Trump

World

FILE PHOTO: Argentina’s President-elect Alberto Fernandez looks on as he attends the oath of office of Tucuman Governor Juan Manzur, in San Miguel de Tucuman, Argentina October 29, 2019. REUTERS/Agustin Marcarian

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Argentine President-elect Alberto Fernandez held a phone call on Friday with U.S. President Donald Trump, Fernandez’s press office said, after the center-left politician won an election last Sunday.

During the call, Trump told Fernandez that he had “instructed” the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which extended a $57 billion credit line to the country last year, to work with Argentina’s incoming administration.

“Don’t hesitate to call me,” the statement quoted Trump as telling Fernandez during the call. The Argentine president-elect told Trump he hoped the two would have a “mature and cordial” relationship, the statement said.

The IMF deal, negotiated with Argentina’s outgoing President Mauricio Macri, has been in limbo since the Aug. 11 primary election, which Fernandez won by a higher than expected margin. The primary result prompted a steep selloff in Argentine asset prices, and sparked fear of a sovereign default.

But the peso steadied this week, helped by central bank interventions, after Fernandez’s election win. The currency closed Friday at 59.745 to the U.S. dollar.

Reporting by Hugh Bronstein; Editing by Alistair Bell

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