COUNTRY CONTEXT IN ARGENTINA Argentina is currently going through a deep economic crisis, within a complex and fragile macroeconomic, fiscal and social context that has been deeply aggravated by the pandemic and the lockdown and confinement measures. Economic activity has been in recession for three years, with the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) falling by 10% in 2020 after a 2.1% decline in 2019 (IMF, 2021). According to International Monetary Fund (IMF) projections, Argentina’s Real GDP will grow 5.8% in 2021, 2.5% in 2022 and 1.5% by 2026 (IMF, 2021). Thus, as the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) (2021) states: “the COVID-19 crisis adds to the structural challenges already faced by the country: returning to a path of economic recovery and improving the circumstances of the most vulnerable groups after 10 years of very low average growth (average GDP growth in the 2010-2019 period was 1.4%).” ARGENTINA’S REAL GDP GROWTH (ANNUAL PERCENTAGE CHANGE) Real GDP growth (Annual percent change) 15 10 5 0 -5 -10 -15 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 Source: IMF DataMapper. Retrieved from: https://www.imf.org/external/datamapper Furthermore, Argentina continues to maintain high inflation rates. The inflation rate rose to 34.3% in 2018 and 53.5% in 2019, standing at 36.1% in 2020. End-year inflation in 2021 is expected to be around 42% to 46% (IMF, n.d.-a). As a result of the Argentine Central Bank’s decision to again use monetary emission to finance the Treasury in order to meet the greater financing needs arising from the pandemic, monetary aggregates showed a significant acceleration. Since November 2019, assistance to the Treasury has risen by more than USD 25.7 billion, due to increased production financing needs during the pandemic and the absence of sources of financing. Furthermore, the government is expected to continue using monetary emission to either partly or fully finance the deficit (IDB, 2021). 04 DFIs FINANCING IN ARGENTINA DURING THE PANDEMIC: COVID-19 PROJECTS AND TRANSPARENCY SHORTCOMINGS