Argentina said on Wednesday it will ask the International Monetary Fund to postpone scheduled repayments on a $44 billion loan. An IMF delegation is in Buenos Aires to discuss the loan repayment, and its managing director Kristalina Georgieva said on Tuesday it had "no intention of putting pressure on Argentina." "The conversations have begun. If we want a country that will move towards a robust (economic) model, there is no room for the deadlines to which the previous government committed," Cabinet chief Santiago Cafiero said. "The IMF money, the Fund's $44 billion, is no longer in the country." The first repayments are due in September 2021 on a loan organized by former leader Mauricio Macri. It was originally due to be worth $57 billion before center-left President Alberto Fernandez pulled the plug on disbursements after he took office in December. "We need growth to be able to pay," said Cafiero. In August, Argentina managed to restructure a $66 billion foreign bond debt that was worth 54.8 cents on the dollar. The crisis-wracked South American country has been in recession since 2018, and its inflation is over 40 percent. Poverty and unemployment have soared during the coronavirus pandemic. nn/mr/bc/st