ARGENTINA’S government has struck a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to refinance a $45 billion (£34bn) debt.

President Alberto Fernandez faces an uphill struggle to push the unpopular deal through Congress, since it instructs Buenos Aires to slash energy subsidies which will mean price rises of up to 150 per cent in household energy bills.

Ally Maximo Kirchner — son of former presidents Nestor Kirchner and Cristina Fernandez, the latter of whom is still vice-president — resigned as head of the parliamentary coalition supporting the government on January 31 in protest against the IMF’s terms, and many government MPs say the debt is “unpayable.”