The US signaled a large-scale rescue for Argentina, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent saying Washington is negotiating a $20 billion swap line with the central bank and stands ready to buy government debt.
Bessent’s statement specified that “the Treasury is currently in negotiations with Argentine officials for a $20 billion swap line with the Central Bank,” adding that the US is “working in close coordination” to prevent market volatility and is prepared to purchase secondary or primary government debt. Reuters separately noted standby credit via the Exchange Stabilization Fund among the tools under consideration.
A US swap of $20 billion would exceed Argentina’s China line ($18–19 billion) and follows Buenos Aires’ April renewal of a $5 billion activated tranche with the PBoC.
Argentine markets extended gains after the remarks: the 2030 bond rose over 4 cents to 75.36 cents on the dollar. The Global X MSCI Argentina ETF jumped over 4%, the Merval added more than 6%, and the peso appreciated around 3% on the day.
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Treasury’s support comes one month before Argentina’s 2025 legislative midterms in October—the first of the Milei presidency—after several weeks of market stress tied to political setbacks.
While Bessent outlined swap-line negotiations and potential debt purchases, President Donald Trump said earlier that a “bailout was not necessary,” even as he publicly backed Javier Milei’s re-election bid.
This would be the second major US-backed rescue for Argentina in recent years. In 2018, the White House supported the IMF’s then-record $50 billion standby program (later lifted toward $57 billion) under President Mauricio Macri—a deal that later unraveled.
Bessent indicated ongoing coordination with Buenos Aires to curb volatility and flagged work on ending a tax exemption that benefited exporters converting FX.
Trump and Milei are both populist politicians who similarly ran and won on nationalist policies.
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