Kristalina Georgieva will travel to Neuquén to tour Loma Campana with YPF president Horacio Marín, making Vaca Muerta the final productive stop of her visit to Argentina. It will be the first time the top authority of the International Monetary Fund enters the unconventional formation, a gesture the government presents as recognition of its capacity to generate foreign currency.
For several hours, the choice of field moves the IMF relationship from meetings in Buenos Aires to the territory where part of the hydrocarbons considered strategic by the economic program are produced. The national government links oil and gas growth to reserve accumulation and macroeconomic stability. The visit is intended to give that equation a physical dimension.
Georgieva will arrive after meeting Javier Milei, Luis Caputo, the expanded cabinet and leading members of the economic team. In her joint press conference with the minister, she highlighted Argentina's energy potential to increase foreign-currency income. The Neuquén tour will allow her to observe a development previously discussed through talks, projections and external accounts.
Horacio Marín will receive her at Loma Campana, a flagship block located ten kilometers from Añelo and 180 kilometers from the city of Neuquén. Caputo said the IMF chief wanted to see with her own eyes how Vaca Muerta is developed. Her host will therefore be the state-controlled company at the center of much of the unconventional expansion.
The trip follows Georgieva's explicit endorsement of the government's economic direction. She said Argentina is in a healthier situation than in 2023 and welcomed lower inflation, the fiscal surplus and an improved credit rating. At the same time, she identified two pending issues linking macroeconomics to daily life: creating formal jobs and restoring domestic consumption.
The IMF head also supported the official plan to reform the Central Bank charter, a bill that has not yet begun its parliamentary path. The proposal seeks to restore preservation of the currency's value as the institution's main mission and prevent monetary financing of the state. Georgieva also ruled out additional assistance and praised reserves currently around US$49 billion.
After Loma Campana, Georgieva will travel to Uruguay to meet President Yamandú Orsi on Thursday. The Neuquén stop will close her Argentine agenda with a favorable signal, but the substantive result depends on energy expansion producing the foreign currency and employment identified in her own diagnosis. The next test is not the tour photo, but Vaca Muerta's capacity to support reserves while formal jobs and consumption remain pending.
