ARGENTINA — Argentina has announced new austerity measures in a bid to stem its current currency crisis.

This comes ahead of receiving a $50 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund.

In a televised address, President Mauricio Macri said the country could no longer keep spending more than it earned.

Argentina will slash spending and raise export taxes in order to tackle its budget deficit, The Guardian reports.
The president announced taxes on grain exports and other products and said the nation will abolish about half of the government's ministries.

The administration did not say which ministries would be closed or merged, the BBC reports.
Argentina is the largest exporter of soy meal and soy oil and is also a major producer of corn, wheat and raw soybeans.

Starting on January 1, those exports will be taxed four pesos for every dollar in value, while processed products will be taxed three pesos for every dollar in value.

The export taxes will be lifted once the economy has stabilized.
Argentina's goal is to achieve a budget surplus of 1 percent of GDP by 2020.