News of economy

Argentina again tightens FX rules for banks as peso strengthens

29-08-2025 13:33 Argentina increases foreign-currency restrictions for commercial lenders yet again as part of effort to support the peso and ease inflation.

ABOUT THE BRIBERY SCANDAL

Explainer: What to know about ANDIS audio scandal

28-08-2025 16:52 Burgeoning corruption scandal prompted by leaked audio recordings linking Karina Milei and other top officials to corrupt practices in the purchases of medicine for disabled people.

POLITICS

Milei calls bribery scandal a lie after facing ‘rain of rocks’

28-08-2025 16:22 “This week’s operation is nothing more than another item on the long list of tricks by the caste and, like all the previous ones, just another lie,” declares President in speech to business leaders.

Lithium in Latin America

Untapped lithium riches are in crosshairs of Bolivian candidate

28-08-2025 15:08 Jorge 'Tuto' Quiroga’s approach to lithium is much more dramatic than his centrist opponent Rodrigo Paz, who has vowed to seek consensus with local communities and regions.

BUSINESS & INVESTMENT

Alarm bell ring for investors amid graft scandal claims

28-08-2025 11:55 Members of so-called ‘círculo rojo’ business establishment concerned by possible consequences of recent scandal, which could slow desired influx of investment. What the top businessmen who defend the economic plan think about the future.

by Ariel Maciel

MONETARY POLICY

Argentina rolls over debt in relief for battered currency

27-08-2025 21:48 Government successfully rolls over large batch of local debt in auction; Milei administration has tightened monetary policy in past few weeks to defend peso.

MONETARY POLICY

Milei digs in to defend peso before midterm elections

27-08-2025 11:16 President Javier Milei is ratcheting up his defence of Argentina’s currency ahead of another massive local debt auction.

RIGI INVESTMENT INCENTIVE SCHEME

One year in, RIGI investor incentive scheme fails to take off

27-08-2025 09:18 One of President Javier Milei’s flagship policies, the RIGI incentive scheme for large investors, is not taking off – one year on from its launch, three projects have imported a mere US$26 million. Seven initiatives have been approved with 11 others pending and a Chinese rejection.

by Gonzalo Martínez

FEATURE

Yerba mate farmers feel the pinch as Milei ends price controls

26-08-2025 17:31 For decades, yerba mate farmers benefited from state intervention. Now, under President Javier Milei, many growers are struggling to survive.

TRADE & COMMERCE

Mercosur and Canada to resume talks over free-trade agreement

26-08-2025 10:26 Amid trade tensions sparked by Donald Trump's tariff war, Mercosur and Canada are set to resume negotiations on a free-trade agreement.

ECONOMIC POLICY

Argentina boosts its scrutiny of repo loans as peso slides

26-08-2025 10:10 Argentine authorities step up scrutiny of investor activity in repo loans, short-term financial instruments that have seen interest rates touch record highs amid a liquidity crunch at banks.

POLITICS

Pensioners on the frontline of politics

23-08-2025 06:44 It has become a Buenos Aires tradition – each Wednesday, baton-wielding riot police violently confront pensioners protesting against President Javier Milei’s policies.

POLITICS & CONGRESS

Milei’s veto of pension increase survives congressional vote

20-08-2025 23:46 Bill Milei vetoed would have boosted pension payments and risked the libertarian government’s budget surplus, highly prized by investors

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Economy extends downturn in June before midterms

20-08-2025 23:12 Economic activity fell 0.7% from May, below economists’ estimates for a 0.2% dip.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Economic activity dropped 0.7% month-on-month in June

20-08-2025 18:30 Second monthly decline so far this year, but economic activity up 6.4% year-on-year, driven by financial services, wholesale, retail and repairs.

BANKING & FINANCE

Milei clashes with top banks amid Argentina’s liquidity squeeze

20-08-2025 08:35 Liquidity measures have stoked tensions between the government and the country’s banks; Discontent became evident during a meeting.

RIGI INVESTMENT BOOST

Glencore seeks incentives for US$13-billion copper mining projects

18-08-2025 16:46 Switzerland-based commodities firm Glencore files applications to have two copper projects with combined capital expenditure estimated at more than US$13 billion included in RIGI investment incentive scheme.

YPF NATIONALISATION CASE

Argentina wins stay on YPF share transfer in US court battle

17-08-2025 08:59 Appeals court halts order to hand over 51% of shares in state energy firm as Argentina fights US$16.1-billion ruling in nationalisation case.

YPF NATIONALISATION CASE

Argentina wins reprieve in US court fight over YPF shares

16-08-2025 08:30 Appeals court rules Argentina doesn’t need to turn over its controlling stake in YPF SA to holders of a US$16-billion judgment while it tries to overturn previous order.

Editorial

Through a (bionic) glass darkly

16-08-2025 06:47 Are universities wholly to blame for educational and cultural deficits long preceding entry into institutions of higher learning?

As I see it

Why Milei refuses to budge an inch

16-08-2025 06:11 Like “the Iron Lady,” late British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, whom he admires, Milei lets it be known that he is not for turning.

by James Neilson

POLITICS: MIDTERMS 2025

Milei vows to end Kirchnerism, lets rip at Kicillof during campaign rally

14-08-2025 21:24 President placed at front and centre of La Libertad Avanza’s electoral strategy in Buenos Aires Province as party leaders hope to transfer his national popularity to local election.

Politics & public works

Seventeen years on, Sarmiento super-tunnel project canned

13-08-2025 23:42 After 17 years and with US$420 million of kit left underground, the Sarmiento underpass has been abandoned with its entrance sealed off, reports journalist Diego Cabot, after the firms in charge of the project and President Javier Milei’s government decided to pull the plug.

BONDS & MARKETS

Argentina rolls over 61% in peso debt auction, yields soar

13-08-2025 20:00 Local debt auction falls short of market expectations as President Javier Milei’s administration rolls over just 61% of maturities in a key auction that analysts said may prompt a drop in the peso.

ANALYSIS

Inflation posts mild acceleration after policy stumble

13-08-2025 16:49 Monthly inflation picked up some momentum last month as regulated price hikes collided with a peso overhang that sparked the currency’s worst month since 2023.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Consumer prices rose 1.9% in July, reports INDEC

13-08-2025 16:14 Inflation of 17.3% since the turn of year, reaching 36.6% over the last 12 months; Positive signs for Milei administration heading into crunch midterms.

LABOUR IN LATAM

UNICEF: Girls in Latin America doing double domestic work of boys

12-08-2025 17:18 Amount of time dedicated to domestic work by adolescent girls in Latin America is almost double the time spent by boys, according to UNICEF study.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Exports to China down 15% year-on-year in first half of 2025

12-08-2025 17:06 Trade deficit with Asian giant is largest among Argentina's leading trading partners; it rose to US$5.227 billion during the first six months of this year.

by Agustina Bordigoni

Corporate defaults

Milei’s FX reforms spur worst corporate default wave since 2020

12-08-2025 15:21 Javier Milei’s reforms are fuelling the worst streak of corporate defaults since the pandemic.

MARKETS

Argentina’s peso debt yields soar to record ahead of key auction

12-08-2025 10:59 Sharp increase in borrowing costs comes as the government prepares for a peso debt auction Wednesday when it will attempt to roll over around US$17.4 billion in maturities, equal to about a third of all the money circulating in the economy.

WORLD ECONOMY

Xi takes aim at US ‘protectionism’ in phone call with Lula

12-08-2025 10:56 Brazil President Lula and Chinese leader Xi Jinping agreed on “upholding multilateralism” through the Group of 20 and BRICS.

BONDS & MARKETS

Vontobel, Neuberger see opportunity in Argentina local bond rout

11-08-2025 15:44 Money managers are piling into Argentina’s local markets, seizing on the steep sell-off in the peso and domestic bonds.

Agriculture

Trump urges China to quadruple US soy buying, lifting prices

11-08-2025 08:52 Donald Trump says he hopes China will massively step up its purchases of US soybeans.

POLITICS

Milei seeks to retake initiative with vetoes after Congress pushback

09-08-2025 21:43 President threatens jail for budget offenders, accuses rivals of “genocide” and signals possible court fight over laws passed in a string of congressional defeats.

by Pablo Varela

NATIONWIDE BROADCAST

Milei vows ban on funding public spending with monetary issuance

09-08-2025 11:36 President puts emphasis on fiscal discipline measures in national broadcast, pairing a ban on monetary financing with plans to punish lawmakers for approving deficit budgets.

Analysing Argentina

The (wrong?) assumption that energy and mining will save Argentina

09-08-2025 06:35 President Javier Milei’s economic programme relies heavily on the prospects of Argentina massively increasing its exports in the coming years. But projections work better on paper than in reality.

by Marcelo J. García

CONGRESS & POLITICS

Congress pushes back after Milei’s three-veto strike

08-08-2025 14:07 Responding to presidential vetoes, lawmakers pass law to increase funding for universities and declare state of emergency for paediatric healthcare in Argentina.

TRAVEL & TOURISM

Messi, Milei and Mickey Mouse are driving tourists to US

08-08-2025 11:40 Argentines are traveling in droves to the United States this year, bucking a sluggish overall trend of international tourism.

WORLD ECONOMY

Larry Summers says Trump policies are ‘scarily’ like Perón's

07-08-2025 17:28 Former US Treasury secretary Lawrence Summers compares US President Donald Trump’s policies risk to that of post-war Argentina.

GOVERNMENT & POLITICS

Milei vetoes pension increases in bid for fiscal balance

04-08-2025 17:48 President Javier Milei vetoes a law approved by Congress to increase pensions for the elderly and the disabled.

IMF DEBT PROGRAMME

IMF relaxes Argentina’s reserves target by US$5 billion in 2025

02-08-2025 19:25 IMF offers President Javier Milei's government breathing room on a key benchmark target, making it easier for the country to continue with its US$20-billion funding programme.

Work in Argentina

Driving and deliveries: Plan B for professionals and pensioners

01-08-2025 12:44 Transport and delivery platforms, linked to informal employment and not requiring a university education, are today drawing increasingly diverse profiles.

CURRENCY WOES

Peso posts worst month since Milei’s 2023 devaluation

31-07-2025 19:35 Peso tanked by more than 12% in July – worst monthly decline since Milei devalued it in December 2023.

IMF DEBT PROGRAMME

World’s ‘precarious’ trade backdrop is hurting growth, IMF says

29-07-2025 11:49 The IMF emphasised the need for a more tranquil political and economic backdrop.

POLITICS

Secrets of Leonardo Scatturice, Milei’s lobbyist in Washington

29-07-2025 07:20 The murky past of the millionaire former spy behind the unchecked luggage flight. A key link between Javier Milei and Donald Trump, with ties to airline Flybondi and top presidential advisor Santiago Caputo.

by Rodis Recalt

FEATURE

Challenging overfishing: The craft fishers of Peninsula Valdés

26-07-2025 06:02 At Península Valdés in Argentina’s south, a group of artisanal fishers practise a daily craft which runs counter to the voracity of extractive industry. From a fishing province, they are rescuing a trade requiring patience and risk in a protected area many today view as under threat. A look at it’s like to work in a North Patagonian gulf, in crystal-clear waters, where whales follow motorboats as dogs run after the wheels of a lorry.

MONETARY POLICY

Banks face liquidity crunch as peso yields soar

22-07-2025 17:42 Interest rates on peso notes are soaring across the board, piling pressure on banks amid a liquidity crunch caused by government efforts to defend the local currency.

IMF DEBT PROGRAMME

IMF to discuss Argentina amid US$20-billion programme’s first review

22-07-2025 17:16 International Monetary Fund to discuss first review of Argentina’s US$20-billion programme during an informal meeting between staff and executive board on Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Retailers facing problems

Number of empty shops soars in capital amid consumption woes

22-07-2025 06:56 Vacant shops up 40% in the City of Buenos Aires; In May and June, there were 238 shops for sale, for rent or closed down in the surveyed areas, according to local chamber of commerce.