News of economy

Shoppers at a supermarket in Buenos Aires, July 2023.

Cost of full shopping trolley up to 11% more expensive in south

Today 11:05 Breakdown of consumer prices undertaken by the Analytica consultancy firm showed that food is at its most expensive in Patagonia.

The headquarters of Banco Galicia in Argentina in the financial district of Buenos Aires.

BANKING & FINANCE

Milei clashes with top banks amid Argentina’s liquidity squeeze

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

A HSBC Holdings Plc office building stands above the Paseo del Bajo underground highway project under construction in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Friday, April 12, 2019.

REMOTE, HYBRID OR IN-OFFICE?

Half of Argentine workers prefer hybrid model, survey shows

18-08-2025 17:25 Given the choice, a majority of workers in Argentina would prefer a model of two days remote, three days in office – but in reality just 17% are not required to attend their workplace full-time.

Molten copper is cast into copper anodes in a furnace at the Glencore Canadian Copper Refinery (CCR) in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on Tuesday, August 12, 2025.

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.

An indigenous voter casts her ballot at a polling station during the presidential election in La Paz on August 17.

BOLIVIAN ELECTION 2025

Voters end two decades of socialist rule in Bolivia

18-08-2025 12:52 Voters sent two pro-business candidates to Bolivia’s presidential election run-off, ending two decades of almost-uninterrupted socialist rule.

The premises of Jumbo and Easy in Palermo.

REAL ESTATE

Farewell 'Portal Palermo'?: Milei set to sell off top Buenos Aires real estate

17-08-2025 16:16 State plans to auction off 42,000 square metres in prime Palermo where two consumer giants, Jumbo and Easy, currently operate. Firms have been served notice.

A YPF SA gas station in the Parque Chas neighbourhood of Buenos Aires.

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.

A YPF SA storage terminal in Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina.

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?

Campaign comments

Jousting in the lists

16-08-2025 06:30 In broad terms, President Javier Milei’s La Libertad Avanza will be flying solo in half the country whereas Peronism is presenting a united front in three-quarters of the districts, including all the most important except Córdoba.

by Michael Soltys

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

A supporter of ex-president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner demonstrates at the weekly pensioners protest outside Congress in Buenos Aires.

THE WEEK IN REVIEW

Stories that caught our eye: August 8 to 15

15-08-2025 16:51 A selection of the stories that caught our eye over the last seven days in Argentina.

FRIENDSHIP, BUSINESS & POLITICS

Donation to Milei's party triggers scrutiny of Santiago Caputo’s employer

15-08-2025 13:20 Lucas Costa is one of the partners at Zefico SA, the company where top presidential adviser Santiago Caputo is the sole employee. The firm was reported to the Unidad de Información Financiera (UIF) two weeks, after the businessman transferred some three million pesos to La Libertad Avanza’s campaign in Formosa.

by Giselle Leclercq

CURRENCY TURBULENCE

Peso gains as authorities ease hit of debt auction

14-08-2025 17:17 Argentina’s peso strengthened Thursday as authorities announced they will raise reserve requirements for banks.

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.

Shoppers browse products in a supermarket in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

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.

A woman buys beef at a supermarket in Buenos Aires on August 8, 2025.

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.

On July 5, 2025, President Milei travelled to Chaco to inaugurate Portal del Cielo, the largest evangelical church in the country led by Pentecostal pastor Jorge Ledesma.

POLITICS & RELIGION

Milei finds heavenly ally in evangelism

12-08-2025 17:48 Politics, religion and business. A decree issued by President Javier Milei recognises evangelical churches as legal entities – a key change its leaders have been seeking for three decades.

by Juan Luis González

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

A currency exchange house in Buenos Aires on April 14, after Javier Milei eased currency controls in Argentina.

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.

Brazil's Ambassador in Argentina Julio Bitelli.

Interview

Julio Bitelli: ‘I don’t rule out a Milei-Lula bilateral meeting’

12-08-2025 14:19 Brazil's Ambassador in Argentina Julio Bitelli discusses bilateral relations, commercial ties and whether the leaders of the two presidents will ever meet.

by Pablo Varela

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.

POLITICS

Documents reveal links between Scatturice, Milei’s man in US, and media mogul Hadad

11-08-2025 18:05 Investigation by lawyer and commentator Natalia Volosin digs up documents attesting to the link between Flybondi owner Leonardo Scatturice and ‘Infobae’ boss Daniel Hadad, in addition to the million-dollar contracts with the state.

The Central Bank of Argentina in Buenos Aires.

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.

A farmworker harvests soybeans in Pace, Mississippi, United States, on Thursday, October 7, 2021.

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.

People with disabilities, their families, and healthcare workers protest against Argentine President Javier Milei's veto of a law that would have increased retirement and disability pensions outside Congress in Buenos Aires on August 5, 2025.

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

This screen grab taken on August 8, 2025, from an official government TV broadcast shows Argentina's President Javier Milei delivering a nationwide broadcast.

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

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

Civil war in the ‘iron triangle’ and the Scatturice ordeal

09-08-2025 06:34 A little less than three months out from the election, it is getting tense for the Milei administration and the country in general. The President is placing his political project on the line, knowing that he needs to deliver electorally if he wants to keep his re-election dreams alive.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

the week in review

Stories that caught our eye: August 1 to 8

08-08-2025 19:40 A selection of the stories that caught our eye over the last seven days in Argentina.

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.

The Menem family with President Javier Milei.

FEATURE

Los Menem SA: How ex-president’s clan invoices the state

08-08-2025 13:54 Business dealings with the state are part of the family’s income, with the Menem clan remaining close to power. A look at controversial contracts and the "series effect."

by Rodis Recalt

Lionel Messi of Inter Miami CF celebrates scoring his team's second goal during the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 group A match between Internacional CF Miami and FC Porto at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on June 19, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia.

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.

Analysis

Milei blames banks and establishment for new run on currency

07-08-2025 17:58 Argentina's government attributes the third currency run of its administration to a supposed speculative manoeuvre by local banks, big business and the establishment. For Milei, it’s a political onslaught against his economic plan.

by Carlos Burgueño

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.

A combine harvester cuts through a field of soybean plants San José de la Esquina, Argentina.

AGRICULTURE & ECONOMY

Farmers say Milei's free-market reforms fall short

07-08-2025 15:35 Rural producers maintain their support for the government but are growing impatient and demanding further reforms.

President Javier Milei and his top Cabinet officials.

POLITICS & GOVERNMENT

Cabinet wealth rankings: Werthein, Cúneo Libarona, Caputo on podium

07-08-2025 14:23 Government ministers Gerardo Werthein, Mariano Cúneo Libarona and Luis Caputo head the wealth and asset rankings of President Javier Milei’s Cabinet.

by Giselle Leclercq

WASTE MANAGEMENT

‘Cruel and ridiculous’: City Hall plan for trash-searching poor slammed

05-08-2025 18:27 Buenos Aires City Mayor Jorge Macri has instructed the Security Ministry and City Police to introduce sanctions for citizens – mostly poor – who take rubbish out of bins.

President Javier Milei, his sister Presidential Chief-of-Staff Karina Milei and Economy Minister Luis Caputo arrive at the Argentine Rural Society's expo in Buenos Aires on July 26, 2025.

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.

Screen grab taken from a handout video released by the Schmidt Ocean Institute and recorded by the ROV SuBastian while being commanded from the oceanographic research vessel RV Falkor (too) on July 26, 2025, displaying an octopus at 1,114 metres of depth at the Mar del Plata Canyon in the Argentine Sea, in the Atlantic Ocean about 300km off Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Patrick Star, 'Drag Queen' crab: underwater live stream captivates Argentines

03-08-2025 17:27 Hundreds of thousands of people have been are obsessed with a YouTube broadcast of a robot showing animals never before seen in the South Atlantic.

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.

IMF DEBT PROGRAMME

IMF approves disbursement of US$2 billion for Argentina

01-08-2025 11:47 IMF executive board approves first review of loan granted in April to Argentina, enabling disbursement of some US$2 billion.

SOCIETY

Kids face food crisis: Third of children suffering serious hardships

01-08-2025 06:28 Data tracked between 2010 and 2024 shows growing food insecurity among Argentine youngsters; UCA report says it remains serious structural problem, with nearly a third suffering from lack of regular access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food.

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.

YPF

US judge orders Argentina’s economy minister to turn over YPF texts

30-07-2025 11:23 US District Judge Loretta Preska says plaintiffs backed by litigation funding firm Burford Capital are entitled to see messages from Economy Minister Luis Caputo and several former officials.

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

Milei euphoric and crazed at the Derecha Fest

THE WEEK IN REVIEW

Stories that caught our eye: July 19 to 26

28-07-2025 21:01 A selection of the stories that caught our eye over the last seven days in Argentina.

Caputo, Milei, and an economic bomb in Argentina.

EDITORIAL

In whose interest is interest?

28-07-2025 15:43 Any recessive trend is unlikely to bite hard enough in the immediate term to affect the midterm results unduly but it could end up jeopardising Milei’s re-election ambitions.

Karina Milei destroys the pawns in BA province

POLITICS - ANALYSIS

Dirty politics in Buenos Aires Province and the risk of violence

28-07-2025 15:12 Libertarian coalition sparked the implosion and successive fragmentation of Argentina’s dysfunctional political system.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

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.

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.

Argentine peso banknotes in a cafe in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

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.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Economy contracted in May for third time in 2025

21-07-2025 16:52 Argentina’s economy contracted in May for the third time this year, according to government data.

LIVING IN ARGENTINA

Boom or broke: Milei’s shake up splits nation along financial lines

21-07-2025 06:20 One half travels overseas and shops, but the other half of the country can't pay the bills – welcome to Javier Milei’s Argentina.

Another dead whale off the coast of Argentina.

the week in review

Stories that caught our eye: July 12 to 19

21-07-2025 05:45 A selection of the stories that caught our eye over the last seven days in Argentina.

An AYSA truck brings drinking water to Villa Azul in Argentina.

STATE SELL OFF

Government confirms start of AySA waterworks privatisation process

21-07-2025 05:29 President Javier Milei's government formally announces the start of the privatisation process for struggling state-owned waterworks AySA.

FEATURE

Trial in absentia – the hope of justice for AMIA bombing

20-07-2025 19:18 The case of the Jewish community centre would be the first application of this kind of trial in Argentina. How this tool against impunity works, its authors, international precedents and other possible cases, such as the crimes of the military dictatorship, to which it could be applied.

by Sabrina Chemen

ANALYSING ARGENTINA

A big win in midterms would be bad news for Milei

20-07-2025 19:05 A huge victory might encourage Milei and his team to stick to the peso appreciation which is both keeping inflation down and pleasing the upper and high-middle classes of Argentina.

by Marcelo J. García

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Moody's upgrades Argentina's long-term debt rating

20-07-2025 18:59 Moody's raises Argentina's long-term debt rating by two notches.

An oil drum owned by state energy firm YPF.

YPF NATIONALISATION CASE

Argentina says it won’t negotiate with Burford over YPF shares

20-07-2025 18:17 Argentina won’t negotiate with Burford Capital, the firm leading efforts to collect a US$16-billion judgment against the South American nation, a spokesman for President Javier Milei told reporters Friday.

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

Caputo’s ‘buy ‘em up champ’ and Milei’s ‘Epstein moment’

20-07-2025 17:32 Leonardo Scaturicce is said to have been instrumental in staffing the DGI tax office which remains under operational control of Santiago Caputo, as does the SIDE spy agency.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

PRESIDENT & THE PRESS

Milei steps up attacks on media as election nears

17-07-2025 19:14 President Javier Milei has stepped up his attacks on journalists with defamation suits and insults that analysts say are designed to bolster his image as an anti-"woke" warrior ahead of October elections.

ECONOMY – ANALYSIS

The risks of the Milei government’s economic plan

17-07-2025 10:03 Macroeconomic order and disinflation alone do not guarantee long-term sustainability.

by Luis Secco

YPF NATIONALISATION CASE

Trump backs Argentina in legal bid to suspend YPF share handover

16-07-2025 12:42 US government to file amicus brief supporting halt against Preska ruling during appeal process; Trump administration shows support for Milei government.

ANALYSIS: SHOCK THERAPY

Milei tightens grip on currency market left awash in pesos

16-07-2025 10:10 President’s economic team sends a signal to the market that it still has an iron grip on Argentina’s money supply, a key ingredient to thwarting inflation, stabilising the peso – and his high approval ratings.

YPF NATIONALISATION CASE

YPF: Appeals court halts handover of company shares for week

15-07-2025 13:29 Legal tangle surrounding the YPF case takes another turn. US appeals court suspends handover of the company’s shares for one week.