News of controls

SECURITY & CRIME

Bullrich, Berni express support for ‘vigilante justice’ pensioner who killed his attacker

25-07-2020 09:53 Politicians express support for 71-year-old Quilmes retiree Jorge Adolfo Ríos, as crime and security returns to forefront of political agenda.

capital controls

Banks block accounts of those suspected of trying to circumvent dollar quota

17-07-2020 00:11 At least three of country's biggest banks have started to block dollar purchases via online platforms for clients suspected of using loopholes to purchase greenbacks beyond the US$200 limit.

GLOBAL PANDEMIC

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.

CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC

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.

BLOOMBERG

Argentina would ease currency controls if debt talks are successful

29-05-2020 14:56 Central Bank leaders implemented new controls Thursday night, restricting companies’ access to the foreign exchange market to pay for obligations overseas in dollars or other currencies.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Just seven properties were sold in Buenos Aires City in April

27-05-2020 15:05 Just seven properties were sold in the capital last month amid the coronavirus lockdown – a 99.7 percent drop in comparison with the same month last year.

Food-purchase scandal

Government under fire for overpaying on food purchases

07-04-2020 17:12 Social Development Minister Daniel Arroyo asks official responsible for overpaying for foodstuffs to resign, amid fierce criticism from opposition.

Virus in Latin America

Chile, Peru close borders as Latam grounds flights over pandemic

16-03-2020 22:39 Chile and Peru announced a total closure of its borders on Monday while Latin America's largest airline announces it is reducing operations by 70 percent, as region scrambles to deal with coronavirus pandemic.

Covid-19 in LatAm

Argentina, Colombia to isolate travellers from coronavirus-hit nations

11-03-2020 12:57 Argentina and Colombia on Wednesday announced that travellers from the countries worst-affected by the new coronavirus would be isolated to protect the wider population.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

53.8%: Argentina posts the highest inflation rate in 28 years

15-01-2020 17:51 INDEC reveals prices last year increased by the highest rate since 1991, with inflation in December coming in at 3.7%.

ECONOMIC MEASURES

Kulfas praises businesses as government re-launches Precios Cuidados

08-01-2020 17:46 Government re-launches price-controls scheme with a list of 310 items, which includes "leading brand" products "at reasonable prices," according to officials.

CAPITAL CONTROLS

‘Strict’ foreign-exchange controls to stay in place, says Kulfas

05-01-2020 08:26 “In the current context, strict exchange rate regulations are inevitable,” says production minister

CURRENCY CONTROLS

Central Bank tightens 'cepo,' sets US$50 limit on cash advances abroad

31-10-2019 22:10 The move comes three days after the Central Bank sharply tightened currency exchange controls to stem a surge in capital flight.

Election 2019

Fernández meets Macri at Casa Rosada as transition of power begins

28-10-2019 12:04 Incoming president Alberto Fernández and outgoing president Mauricio Macri met this morning in the wake of Sunday night's election to plan the handover and discuss tension in the markets.

'Cepo total'

US$200 limit: Central Bank tightens currency controls in wake of election

28-10-2019 01:03 The move looks to preserve international reserves during the political transition but risks causing the black market exchange rate to skyrocket.

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.

Bloomberg

Investors stuck in Argentina rush to local corporate bond market

11-10-2019 10:34 Foreign investors are starting to flock to Argentina’s usually sleepy local corporate-bond market, desperate to reinvest cash stuck in the country due to recently imposed capital controls.

BUENOS AIRES

Capital controls, sky-high rates crush local housing market

01-10-2019 08:56 The world’s highest interest rates and a currency that has lost 68 percent of its value since the start of 2018 has led to paralysis in Argentina’s real estate market. Home sales with a mortgage have plunged 87 percent in the province and city of Buenos Aires so far this year.

BLOOMBERG

The US$185-million bond payment that's overdue and stuck in Argentina

13-09-2019 15:55 Real-estate firm IRSA has the cash to cover a bond payment to foreign and local creditors. But then capital controls arrived – and everything got a lot more complicated...

BLOOMBERG

Argentine corporate bond funds stuck in limbo after controls

13-09-2019 10:15 Argentina unveiled a series of capital controls at the start of this month as President Mauricio Macri responded to a plunging peso draining government reserves after his poor showing in a presidential primary vote.

Bloomberg

Central Bank clamps down on loophole to gain from capital controls

12-09-2019 08:52 The monetary authority adds measures to curb trades aimed at profiting from capital controls.

Bloomberg

Argentine bondholders pull out old guidebook to flee country

08-09-2019 08:55 “Many investors thought Argentina was on its way to becoming Chile or Colombia – stable, investment grade,” said Leo Chialva, a partner at Buenos Aires-based consulting firm Delphos Investment. “Those large funds are horrified by the latest measures.”

BLOOMBERG

A money manager doubles down on crisis-ridden Argentina’s bonds

06-09-2019 14:31 Lutz Roehmeyer, CIO of Capitulum Asset Management, who has invested in other crisis-stricken countries like Nigeria, said Argentine short-term bonds "are a good opportunity."

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."

EXPLAINER

From Argentina to China and India: a global guide to capital controls

04-09-2019 12:34 Argentina may have spooked investors with its imposition of capital controls over the weekend, but it’s scarcely alone among emerging markets in using them to stop money flying out in times of stress.

BLOOMBERG

Argentina returns to capital controls as Macri fights to survive

02-09-2019 09:16 Decision to impose currency controls represents a bitter irony for the pro-market President Macri, who set about dismantling them as soon as he took office in 2015.

CURRENCY CONTROLS

Lacunza: Currency controls 'necessary to avoid greater evils'

02-09-2019 08:52 "It is an uncomfortable measure for us that Argentina has already had," declares finance minister, who describes new restrictions as "transitory."

Selective cepo?

Government imposes currency controls in bid to halt flight of dollars

01-09-2019 16:04 Exporters ordered to seek permission from the Central Bank of Argentina before purchasing foreign currency and and purchases of dollars limited to US$10,000 per individual a month.