Buenos Aires, Mar 10: Argentina and the International Monetary Fund reached an agreement today on repayment of US$3.1 billion in debt owed the global lender, a government source said. The official, who spoke on condition of not being further identified, said President Nestor Kirchner's government had issued the order to make the payment coming due.

Details of the accord were not immediately made public but the official said a breakthrough came during telephone contact between the Argentine government and the IMF in Washington.

Kirchner's government had no immediate formal statement and local reports said his government would respond publicly on Wednesday.
The report of a deal came after days of testy negotiations between Kirchner's government and the Washington-based lending agency.

For days Kirchner had said he would only pay Argentina's latest debt payment to the IMF if the agency first sent signals it will approve an upcoming report on Argentina's economic progress as part of a financial accord the two struck last year.

Argentina, now seeking an exit from its 2001-2002 economic debacle, is facing its second economic progress report as part of a review of a multibillion-dollar financial accord struck with the IMF in the wake of the crisis. Bureau Report