BUENOS AIRES, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Argentina posted a primary fiscal deficit of 81.627 billion pesos ($1 billion) in October, the economy ministry said on Friday, easing from a month earlier as the country has opened the spending taps to counter the economic impact of COVID-19.

Argentina, which is locked in negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to strike a new deal to replace a failed $57 billion facility, has not recorded a fiscal surplus since October last year.

(Reporting by Maximillian Heath and Jorge Iorio; Writing by Adam Jourdan)