BUENOS AIRES – Argentina and the United States signed on Friday an agreement to share tax information in an effort to prevent tax evasion, the Argentine government said.

The pact was signed by Finance Minister Alfonso Prat-Gay and the U.S. ambassador in Buenos Aires, Noah Mamet, during a ceremony that included the director of Argentina’s AFIP tax agency, Alberto Abad.

The agreement facilitates fiscal transparency and seeks to prevent tax evasion, the Finance Ministry said in a statement.

“This agreement is a product of the process Argentina is experiencing, recovering its credibility as a country before the world, restoring institutions and governance, and tackling needed structural reforms,” Prat-Gay said.

During talks three months ago in Buenos Aires, U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and Prat-Gay agreed to expand bilateral cooperation against tax evasion and money laundering.

“From now on, AFIP will have a very valuable tool to detect, in the United States, undeclared assets held by Argentine taxpayers who opted not to take advantage of the fiscal amnesty,” Prat-Gay said.

In May, President Mauricio Macri announced an amnesty to encourage the repatriation of the $500 billion Argentines were estimated to have stashed abroad.