News of business

Lengthy Covid lay-off ban backfires, postponing job crisis

12-12-2020 08:53 Companies have been banned from firing workers since March, with the prohibition was recently extended into 2021. But many firms have resorted to suspensions, effectively postponing future job cuts.

BLOOMBERG

CEOs frustrated with Argentina rattle off list of problems

13-11-2020 19:02 Global companies are growing ever more frustrated with Argentina. The specific gripes vary, but broadly speaking executives say it’s hard to make money given the multitude of challenges facing the nation.

BUSINESS

Walmart divests Argentina operations to Grupo de Narváez

06-11-2020 18:10 Walmart Inc has confirmed it will sell its operations in Argentina to Grupo de Narváez, divesting a 25-year-old business for an undisclosed sum.

BUSINESS

Covid and Argentina drag Telefónica to 160-million-euro 3Q loss

30-10-2020 01:07 Company’s third-quarter write-down illustrates depth of Argentina’s economic crisis, reports Bloomberg.

BUSINESS

Currency controls hit private companies in Argentina

10-10-2020 10:11 Capital controls were already a headache for private companies, but more drastic measures obliging firms to restructure their debts has delivered an even harder blow.

Business departure

Falabella announces closure of four stores in Argentina

15-09-2020 08:07 Chilean department store chain to close four shops in Buenos Aires and look for "strategic partner" for remaining business interests in Argentina.

expropriation of Vicentin

Vicentin, Santa Fe government agrees to find ‘consensual solution’ to crisis

18-07-2020 09:45 Officials mulling over a mixed state-private model for soy giant, according to reports, as provincial government proposes triumvirate of leaders to manage firm through bankruptcy proceedings.

POLITICS & THE PANDEMIC

The arguing never stops

11-07-2020 08:13 The arguing will never go away. At times it pauses briefly when the public is hit by unsettling news on the coronavirus front, but then, in no time at all, the bickering begins once more.

by Martín Gambarotta

Bloomberg

For less than US$400,000 you can now get Uruguay tax residency

15-06-2020 08:29 Starting in July, foreigners who live at least 60 days a year in Uruguay and buy real estate valued above 3.5 million inflation-linked UI – currently equivalent to US$378,000 – will qualify for tax residency.

ILLEGAL ESPIONAGE CLAIMS

AFI conducted illegal espionage on more than 400 journalists during Macri era

08-06-2020 00:12 Cristina Caamaño, government-appointed trustee of AFI federal intelligence agency, files complaint alleging officials conducted illegal espionage on 500 journalists, academics and business leaders, including two Buenos Aires Times staffers, during the Mauricio Macri administration's time in office.

Coronavirus pandemic

Some non-essential stores reopen for business in Buenos Aires

12-05-2020 22:23 City authorities began allowing some "non-essential" shops and businesses to reopen on Tuesday, easing coronavirus restrictions in place in the capital since March 20.

Bloomberg

Airline JetSmart negotiating help with Argentine, Chilean governments

07-05-2020 13:05 Low-cost airline JetSmart Airlines SpA is in talks with the governments of Chile and Argentina about helping the sector in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, said its CEO, Estuardo Ortiz, in an interview with radio Pauta Bloomberg.

UNITED STATES

I'm a small business owner in the US – will I get a coronavirus bailout too?

01-05-2020 12:16 The US government’s US$350-billion loan fund has run dry – yet many big businesses have been awarded millions.

by * Reprinted with kind permission from the author.

Oil prices

Oil prices go negative. What does that mean?

21-04-2020 07:42 The world is awash in oil, there's little demand for it and we're running out of places to put it.

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Firms will go bankrupt within 30 days of no work, warns business lobby

28-03-2020 08:56 Argentina’s Chamber of Commerce praises government’s handling of coronavirus crisis but warns that paralysis of economic activity will hit companies hard.

Wine business

Tariffs, coronavirus fears threaten wine show buzz

04-03-2020 12:51 Threatened by Trump's tariffs and the coronavirus epidemic, winegrowers are facing a high level of uncertainty that raises doubts over the future of the industry.

THIS SUNDAY

Central Bank confirms it's the end for Argentina's five-peso bill

27-02-2020 17:14 Time's up for Mr San Martín: 5 peso bill goes out of circulation this Sunday, February 29, Central Bank confirms.

Bloomberg

Brazil to woo Tesla during Bolsonaro’s trip to United States in March

21-02-2020 16:26 On his Twitter account, President Jair Bolsonaro expressed his desire to convince the electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla to set up a factory in the South American country for his fourth trip to the USA.

E-Commerce Giant

Marcos Galperin resigns as president and CEO of MercadoLibre

14-02-2020 16:12 Argentine entrepeneur, who has led website to multi-billion-dollar success, will be replaced by Brazilian businessman Stelleo Passos Tolda.

Brazilian Taxes

Brazil businesses hope for simpler tax system in 2020

28-01-2020 12:15 In Brazil, where an average of 31 tax rules are introduced or amended every day, small and medium sized businesses struggle to keep up.

Bloomberg

Argentina’s Ualá app gets US$1-billion valuation in new financing round

26-11-2019 11:47 The mobile payments startup plans to use the funds to triple its team to over 500 employees by the end of next year, expand its loans product, and develop new business units.

BRAZIL UNDER BOLSONARO

Economy in mind, Bolsonaro changes tack and cozies up to China

13-11-2019 12:38 Gone is last year’s fiery campaign trail rhetoric about China being a rapacious power intent on exploiting Brazilian resources. China is, after all, Brazil’s biggest trading partner.

BLOOMBERG

Argentina's business elite are desperate to hear an economic plan

22-10-2019 14:08 Executives are resigned to the fact that Macri is going to lose the presidential election, so now they just want to know what Alberto Fernández's plan to save the economy looks like.

Women's Rights

Buenos Aires confirmed as host of 2020 Women Economic Forum

17-10-2019 08:00 The annual gathering of over 1,000 people to discuss women's economic opportunity and empowerment will take place in Argentina's capital next year.

BLOOMBERG

Patagonia summit sheds light on mood before election

07-10-2019 07:00 Argentine executives are preparing for the next government with a mix of pessimism, resignation and even some humour.

FIRST COMMENT ON MEASURES

Macri tells business leaders capital controls are only 'emergency' measure

04-09-2019 16:16 "We don’t like these measures," president tells business leaders, adding that "they are only justified in an emergency and for a limited time."

ECONOMIC DOWNTURN

Business groups: 50 Argentine firms closing a day as a result of crisis

04-06-2019 18:05 Business chambers criticise government's 'anti-industrial economic model,' demand effort to 'reconstruct' productive industries.

INTERVIEW: PRODUCTION & LABOUR MINISTER

Dante Sica: 'Business leaders are reporting higher sales than expected'

28-05-2019 15:28 Production and Labour Minister Dante Sica insists government is focused on reform package as economic indicators show few signs of any major pre-election upturn.

by Patricia Valli