BUENOS AIRES, April 12 (Xinhua) -- The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Friday approved a new Extended Fund Facility (EFF) for Argentina, enabling the country to access 20 billion U.S. dollars with an immediate disbursement of 12 billion dollars.

According to the IMF, the new agreement is designed to support the next phase of the economic program led by Argentine President Javier Milei's government.

The EFF will have a duration of four years, while granting the South American country a grace period of four and a half years.

"The agreement will allow us, starting Monday, to lift the exchange rate controls that so severely limit the normal functioning of the economy," said Argentine Economy Minister Luis Caputo.

"Investments that are currently pending will begin to come into Argentina to take us to this new stage," said Caputo.

The minister emphasized that both the lifting of exchange controls, which have been in place in the country since 2019, and the new IMF loan constitute Phase Three of the government's economic program, which aims to recapitalize the Central Bank of Argentina.

According to Caputo and the Central Bank, the IMF would grant Argentina 12 billion dollars on April 15 and another 2 billion dollars in the following 60 days. ■