By Jorgelina do Rosario
LONDON (Reuters) -Argentina presidential candidate Javier Milei met International Monetary Fund (IMF) representatives on Friday, just days after a shock primary election rocked the cash-strapped nation's markets.
Congressman Milei attended the talks with his economic advisers Carlos Rodriguez, Roque Fernandez and Dario Epstein, according to a person familiar with the talks.
The director of the Fund's Western Hemisphere Department Rodrigo Valdes and deputy director Luis Cubeddu were set to take part in the virtual meeting along with mission chief for Argentina Ashvin Ahuja and IMF Senior resident representative in the country Ben Kelmanson.
A spokesperson for the IMF said the discussion with Milei and his team "was an opportunity to exchange views on the current economic outlook for Argentina and learn more about his economic policy priorities."
Right-winger Milei received 30% of the vote in Sunday's primary, in which all candidates compete against one another, just ahead of the main conservative bloc on 28% and the centre-left ruling Peronists on 27%.
The primary is seen as a good gauge of how voting will go in the Oct. 22 general election, when Argentina chooses its president, vice president, members of congress and the governors of most of its provinces.
The 52-year-old economist has a bold vision to dollarize the economy, get rid of the central bank, cut government spending and eliminate and cut taxes, among other measures.
The surprise result sparked turmoil in the country's bond and currency markets, leading the central bank to hike interest rates by 21 percentage points and the government to devalue the currency by 18%.
Argentina's economy is the largest debtor to the Washington-based lender, with a $44 billion loan.
The IMF's executive board will meet on Aug. 23 to discuss a $7.5 billion disbursement to Argentina after it reached a staff level agreement on two combined reviews of the programme in July.
With negative net foreign currency reserves and a maze of capital controls to protect the plunging peso, the country needs the IMF money to repay the Fund's maturities.
Milei will face the conservative opposition candidate Patricia Bullrich and the Peronist and Economy Minister Sergio Massa in the vote.
(Reporting by Jorgelina do Rosario, editing by Kirsten Donovan and Hugh Lawson)
