Argentine Economy Minister Sergio Massa will travel to Washington next week to close an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a ministry official said, as the government seeks to unlock new disbursements from its $44 billion loan deal with the lender.

Massa is expected to travel to the United States next Tuesday or Wednesday, the source said on Tuesday, asking not to be named.

In July, the South American nation reached a staff-level agreement with the IMF to unlock about $7.5 billion and complete the fifth and sixth reviews of its struggling loan program.

IMF board approval is expected after a primary vote last Sunday where Massa won the presidential nomination for the ruling Peronist coalition. He now faces a battle against conservative and libertarian rivals in October general elections.

Massa has said that fresh IMF disbursement would provide some stability for the country's creaking economy through the second half of the year.