News of controls

Price control chief quits in latest sign of infighting

24-05-2022 09:41 Resignation of Domestic Trade Secretary Roberto Feletti is the latest sign of infighting over the government’s economic strategy as annual inflation approaches 60 percent.

As rivals turn screws on mining, Argentina puts out welcome mat

11-05-2022 23:35 Government turns to capital-control loopholes and tax breaks, eyeing export boost as neighbours look to raise mine taxes.

Kulfas defends new rules: ‘Middle class has many options for the summer’

28-11-2021 09:08 Productive Development Minister Matías Kulfas becomes the latest government minister to take to the airwaves to defend new Central Bank rules on credit card purchases in dollars.

Argentina tightens exchange controls to curb outflows of dollars

26-11-2021 03:06 Argentina’s Central Bank publishes two new measures intended to curb access to hard currency amid expectations for a devaluation.

Price controls without IDEA(s)

16-10-2021 00:01 The holes in price controls are an all too familiar story in Argentina. All sorts of routes for bypassing them, but the ultimate problem confounding price controls is that even their success against all the odds also contains the seeds of failure.

by Michael Soltys

Government agrees 90-day price freeze for more than 1,200 products

14-10-2021 17:12 Government reaches agreement with retailers and business leaders to freeze prices of more than 1,200 household goods for 90 days – latest attempt to win back voters and tackle runaway inflation.

Debt rollover flops as investors eye midterms

04-08-2021 20:47 Investors sent a warning message to Argentina’s Treasury on Tuesday night – don’t expect us to finance the government’s increased spending ahead of November’s midterm elections unless interest rates go up.

Central Bank sells dollars for first time since April

03-08-2021 14:53 Central Bank sells greenbacks for the first time in three months, amid electoral nervousness and high inflation.

Argentina loses emerging market status on FX controls

25-06-2021 01:55 Argentine stocks were cut from emerging market status by index provider MSCI Inc on the country’s continued capital controls.

Crypto mining booms on cheap, subsidised energy in Argentina

31-05-2021 10:41 Bitcoin miners are capitalising on the inefficiencies of the country’s interventionist economy to reap outsize returns, fuelled by memories of currency busts and powered by government-subsidised electricity.

Argentina resorts to unorthodox tools to fight 40% inflation

17-03-2021 13:24 Argentina is once again turning to a combination of unconventional policy tools to curb inflation, which is expected to near 40 percent this year.

Menem: A man of his times – and ours

20-02-2021 06:08 Despite his passing, Carlos Menem’s spirit remains very much around, in both the current government and the country as a whole.

Economy Ministry to halt Central Bank advances until end of 2020

03-11-2020 12:53 Economy Ministry says it will not ask the Central Bank for temporary advances of cash in November and December and would target local capital markets for financing instead.

Economy Ministry takes steps to relieve pressure on currency markets

21-10-2020 18:59 Economy Ministry unveils new measures designed to reduce the pressures on volatile currency markets and ward off devaluation.

Argentina yield curve inverts as forex controls spook investors

23-09-2020 16:36 Less than a month after Argentina’s US$65-billion debt restructuring, bond prices show growing concern the government may struggle to pay its obligations.

Argentines are finding it almost impossible to purchase dollars

21-09-2020 19:28 Savers are finding it impossible to buy dollars through official channels as banks struggle to adjust to rule changes that tightened restrictions.

Argentina bonds fall with tighter foreign-exchange controls

16-09-2020 23:23 Argentine bonds fell Wednesday after the government expanded restrictions on foreign exchange in an attempt to hold onto US dollars as reserves dwindle.

Central Bank tightens currency controls as peso weakens

16-09-2020 10:29 Central Bank tightens conditions for the purchase of foreign currency, to prevent hoarding, preserve reserves and discourage demand for US dollars.

Covid-19 hits close to home for Latin America’s political elite

11-07-2020 08:46 Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro, Bolivian interim leader Jeanine Áñez and Venezuela’s effective number two, Diosdado Cabello all test positive for coronavirus within days of each other.

Catamarca records its first case of coronavirus

04-07-2020 08:45 Governor Raúl Jalil says individual had travelled from Buenos Aires City to the northwestern province and was successfully isolated before entering the region. Until Friday, Catamarca was the only region not to have registered a case.