IMF $1.9B Bolivia loan deal

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) reached a staff-level agreement with Bolivia on July 29, 2026, for a $1.9 billion, three-year financing program to help stabilize Bolivia's economy, which faces its deepest crisis in decades due to declining natural gas production, fiscal deficits exceeding 10% of GDP, and nearly exhausted foreign currency reserves. The deal requires approval from the IMF's Executive Board and Bolivia's Congress. If approved, it would be Bolivia's first multi-year IMF arrangement since 2006. The program is expected to catalyze additional financing from the World Bank Group, the Inter-American Development Bank, and other multilateral lenders, totaling over $5 billion. The financing is contingent on economic reforms under President Rodrigo Pinto, who took office in November 2025 and has already cut fuel subsidies and reduced public spending, triggering protests and roadblocks earlier in 2026. The agreement faces political hurdles in Congress, where IMF borrowing remains sensitive. Bolivian dollar bonds were little changed, with yields between 8% and 9%.