US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Washington could again provide financial support to Argentina if President Milei's government needs it, in an interview with Axios published Saturday. Asked whether the US could do it again, he said yes.
Bessent announced no operation and named no amount, mechanism or date. He called Argentina's stabilization last year a turning point for Latin America, where he said the US has never had so many allies.
He also cited the repayment of the 2025 swap as proof that US taxpayers came out ahead: the central bank paid back about US$2.5 billion with US$17.7 million in interest.
The remark comes as growth fades. Activity fell 2.9% in July from June, INDEC reported, the steepest monthly drop since April 2020, and was 1.4% lower than a year earlier. GDP shrank 0.6% in the second quarter, so a second straight quarterly fall would meet the usual definition of a technical recession. INDEC publishes third-quarter GDP on December 16.
Markets are focused on next year. Argentina owes about US$25.4 billion in foreign-currency debt payments in 2027, starting with US$4.5 billion in bond interest in January, and dollar bonds yield around 11% to 12%, which makes new borrowing costly. Analysts estimate a funding gap of about US$23.3 billion for 2027. Country risk, the extra yield investors demand over US Treasuries, has climbed to around 650 points, its highest since late 2025.
Economy Minister Luis Caputo met Bessent in Asheville, North Carolina, about a month ago at a G20 finance meeting, and Bessent repeated US support there, according to Infobae. The Treasury has not said whether any talks on new support are under way.