Banks including JPMorgan, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, and Citigroup are in talks with the US Treasury to provide up to $20 billion in loans to Argentina, people familiar with the matter said.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday that a private-sector loan package could be “adjacent” to the $20 billion in financing that the Trump administration is providing Argentina, where economic unrest has spread ahead of elections that will determine whether President Javier Milei, an ideological ally of President Donald Trump, remains in office.
Trump has conditioned US aid on a Milei victory: “If he loses, we are not going to be generous with Argentina,” the president said. The US government is giving the country dollars in exchange for pesos to prop up its collapsing currency. Bessent said the US bought more pesos on Wednesday.
The banks are discussing an emergency loan backed by Argentine assets, the people said, while cautioning that talks are ongoing and specific collateral is still being ironed out. Representatives for Treasury and the banks declined to comment.
Asked about a possible backstop at Semafor’s World Economy Summit, Goldman President John Waldron declined to comment, but said: “We do what we can to help in situations like that, to provide capital if it’s in the interest of the US government.”
In a separate interview at the summit, Treasury counselor Joe Lavorgna said a private-sector lifeline is “another way to solidify and buttress the support that [Argentina] need[s] in the short term.” He called Argentina “a key ally in the region.”