The drama of the International Monetary Fund and Argentina, the longest-running farce in international finance, is entering yet another act. Those few members of the audience still awake may begin to hope that they will one day see the denouement. But as the IMF annual meetings this weekend will surely conclude, it is too much to hope for a swift finale given the plot threads yet to be untangled.

The latest IMF programme, which essentially rolls over loans from its outstanding exposure of nearly $15bn, is currently off track. Several structural issues remain unresolved, including reforming the banking system, finalising revenue-sharing agreements with the provinces and, most saliently, concluding negotiations with private investors who hold more than $100bn in defaulted sovereign debt. The Argentine economy's short-term recovery has given the authorities enough revenue to cope without rollover payments from the IMF for now. But if and when the tortuous debt negotiations are resolved and the programme resumes, the fund's problems will return.