BUENOS AIRES, April 22 (Xinhua) -- The Argentine government achieved a primary surplus of 10.347 billion pesos (some 238 million U.S. dollars) in the first quarter of the year, equivalent to 0.1 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), Finance Minister Nicolas Dujovne said on Monday.
It was a rare instance of good news for the Latin American country and its crisis-hit economy.
Argentina's primary fiscal results, which exclude interest payments on debt, surpassed government targets for the first quarter to register the best figures in eight years, Dujovne said at a press conference.
"For the first time since 2011, Argentina again has a primary surplus in the first quarter. We achieved a real spending reduction of 14 percent compared with the first quarter of last year," he said.
In March, Argentina reported a deficit of 13.037 billion pesos (300 million U.S. dollars), but it was lower than the same period the year before year-on-year, when the fiscal deficit reached 14.702 billion pesos (353 million U.S. dollars).
Dujovne said the government's goal of achieving full fiscal convergence can be made flexible to a deficit of no more than 0.5 percent of GDP, based on loan terms signed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
"We're aiming to arrive at zero, but we have the power to arrive at 0.5 percent of GDP," he said.
In keeping with its IMF loan agreement for a record 56.3 billion U.S. dollars, the Argentine government has pledged to achieve a fiscal deficit of zero in 2019.
Argentina was hit with an inflation rate of 11.8 percent in the first quarter and a fall in economic activity as a result of last year's severe exchange rate volatility.
