The Argentine Senate, the country’s upper chamber of parliament, has voted to approve a USD 45 billion debt deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a move designed to keep Argentina from defaulting.

According to the local daily La Nación, the country’s government hopes that the package will allow Argentina to exit a long-running financial crisis. The vote makes the agreement into law, but it also includes a contentious provision that discourages the country’s population from using crypto assets.

In order to further protect Argentina’s financial stability, the country’s authorities have pledged to take significant steps to discourage the use of crypto assets, among other things, “with a view to preventing money laundering, informality, and disintermediation.”

However, the letter does not specify any specific methods that Buenos Aires could use to stymie the population’s embrace of cryptocurrency.

At the same time, Argentina’s government declares that it will continue to support the payment digitization process in order to improve the efficiency and costs of payment systems and cash management. This, however, does not include promoting the use of cryptocurrency, as implied by the previous statement.

The crypto provision is part of a Technical Memorandum of Understanding (TMU) signed by Buenos Aires with the international organization on March 3, which accompanies the letter signed by Miguel Pesce, President of the Argentine Republic’s Central Bank, and Martin Guzman, the country’s Minister of Economy.

According to the two officials, their plan is carefully calibrated to Argentina’s specific circumstances, particularly the challenging economic and social situation exacerbated by the global pandemic.

While commercial banks remain liquid and well-capitalized, strong bank oversight will be maintained, particularly in light of the removal of pandemic-related regulatory forbearance.