News of economy

CHANGE AT THE TREASURY

Peso stability a priority, declares new Finance Minister Hernán Lacunza

20-08-2019 13:46 "Guaranteeing the exchange rate is a first-order objective," says Lacunza, who also promises that Argentina would keep 2019 fiscal targets set in alignment with IMF.

POST-PASO TURBULENCE

IMF in talks with Argentina, will send team to Buenos Aires 'soon'

20-08-2019 12:32 Fund says it is continuing discussions with Argentina and will send a mission to Buenos Aires in the near future, as newly-installed Finance Minister Hernán Lacunza vows to stabilise currency.

NEW MINISTER

Hernán Lacunza begins work after being sworn in as new finance minister

20-08-2019 08:58 "I want to thank Hernán Lacunza for accepting this complex responsibility in such a difficult time," declares President Macri at Casa Rosada ceremony.

BLOOMBERG

Supporters stand by Alberto Fernández after week of market turmoil

19-08-2019 12:49 Macri supporters are clinging to hopes he can turn around his campaign and pull off an upset in the October 27 presidential election.

PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFUL

Alberto Fernández: We're 'virtually' in default and must renegotiate IMF deal

19-08-2019 09:19 Fernández, now the clear favourite to win upcoming presidential elections October 27, laid out his views of the economic situation in a series of newspaper interviews over the weekend.

CHANGES IN CABINET

Dujovne resigns from government with Lacunza set to replace him

17-08-2019 19:49 Hernán Lacunza to move from Buenos Aires Province government to replace Nicolás Dujove, after Treasury and Finance minister resigned post on Saturday. Lacunza's number two, Damián Bonari, to head Province's Economy Ministry

THE COST OF CRISIS

Argentines continue to pay the price of economic meltdowns

17-08-2019 11:14 While investors, creditors and businesspeople lament the potential departure of Mauricio Macri, many voters – hit by spiralling inflation and the economic downturn – are nostalgic for the days of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and her late husband.

by Lucas Robinson

TWO LEADERS SPEAK

Macri holds 'long and good' telephone conversation with Fernández

14-08-2019 16:10 Earlier in the day, opposition leader Alberto Fernández had rejected the idea of meeting with the current president, saying "it doesn't make sense."

Argentina-Brazil

Brazil-Argentina ties sour as Bolsonaro fumes over primary vote

14-08-2019 12:14 President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro expressed his discontent over the triumph of Kirchnerism in Sunday’s primaries. Though different in style, Mauricio Macri and Bolsonaro had similar economic goals.

ECONOMIC MEASURES

Macri offers mea culpa, announces measures to boost incomes

14-08-2019 11:09 President offers an apology for tetchy performance in Monday's press conference and tells Argentines 'he understands' their anger, announcing raft of measures to help workers and businesses.

ANALYSIS: PASOs 2019

Macri, Fernández must begin transition of power now

12-08-2019 16:31 Alberto Fernández has still not woken up to the fact that he's the virtual president-elect. When he spoke on Sunday evening, upping the ante to gain even more votes in October, he spoke of "in the next two months." His problem starts now, in the next two days.

by Jorge Fontevecchia

BLOOMBERG

In era of extremes, Argentina's candidates fight for the centre

10-08-2019 11:18 The government and its main opposition demonise each other as extremists while fighting for votes in the middle of the political spectrum from an electorate that demands solutions.

by Marc Margolis

ELECTION 2019: CAMPAIGN WATCH

The yelling stops as voters provide an X-ray of Argentina

10-08-2019 10:01 The last week of the campaign, marked by China’s devaluation of the yuan, was yet another indication that Argentina is as fragile as it can get and that anything that happens abroad will hit the country head on.

by Marcelo J. Garcia

BLOOMBERG

Investors trim risk ahead of Argentina's ‘coin toss’ primaries

09-08-2019 09:51 Investors are pulling back from Argentina before the PASOs, with the potential for a boom or bust ahead.

PASO

Negative PASO result for Macri would unleash market turmoil, warn analysts

07-08-2019 17:30 Domestic and international observers fear economic backlash, should Alberto Fernández finish more than five points ahead of President Macri and his allies in this weekend's primaries.

by Lucas Robinson

BLOOMBERG

Agility is the watchword as trade tensions jolt emerging markets

05-08-2019 12:34 The Chinese yuan fell to 7 against the US dollar as the global stock index has lowest close since January.

BLOOMBERG VIEW

Argentina can’t escape its economic curse

03-08-2019 10:30 Trapped in a cycle of economic crisis for over a century, is the country doomed to repeat its mistakes forever?

ELECTIONS 2019: CAMPAIGN WATCH

Is it (still) the economy, stupid?

03-08-2019 10:06 It is no surprise that President Mauricio Macri wants to talk about anything but the economy on the campaign trail.

by Marcelo J. Garcia

INDEC REPORT

Salaries in election spotlight, as inflation continues to hurt consumers

02-08-2019 17:48 Inflation has risen 17.2% above than registered salaries since last May, new INDEC data reveals.

by Lucas Robinson

ECONOMIC OUTLOOK

Latin America set for feeble growth of 0.5% in 2019, says UN

31-07-2019 17:31 Crisis in Venezuela will drag down the region's performance, predicts CEPAL, which also points to expected 1.8 percent shrinkage in Argentina's economy.

CRISIS IN VENEZUELA

IMF: Venezuelan economy to contract by further 35% this year

30-07-2019 12:36 The cumulative decline of the Venezuelan economy since 2013 will reach 65%, among the deepest five-year contractions around the world over the last half century, the International Monetary Fund has announced.

BLOOMBERG

Alberto Fernández says he would stop paying Central Bank interest on Leliqs

29-07-2019 19:02 The Frente de Todos presidential candidate said he would cease interest payments on notes known as Leliqs, used to implement monetary policy, in order to raise retiree pensions by 20 percent once he takes office.

NEW SURVEY

New poll reveals three-quarters of Argentines hold positive view of China

27-07-2019 09:59 New survey by Argentina Project and Poliarquía reveals vast levels of support for relations with China – and that 54 percent would prioritise relations with Beijing over Washington if forced to choose.

by Lucas Robinson

POLARISATION

Black holes and the theory of the lesser evil

27-07-2019 09:31 What makes this entire situation worse is that neither candidate has proposed a plan to get the country out of the black hole it’s in.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

ELECTION 2019

Volatility returns to markets as election jitters take their toll

27-07-2019 09:02 Concerns contribute to peso becoming the world’s worst currency and undermined bond returns, amid speculation that next month’s crucial PASO primary vote may show strong support for Fernández-Fernández ticket.

BLOOMBERG

Latin America's central banks poised to join global rate cut party

25-07-2019 09:52 Brazil, Peru and Mexico indicate rate cuts are on the cards, but Argentina remains the outlier.

MERCOSUR

Paraguay seeks car deals with Mercosur neighbours as growth slows

17-07-2019 16:53 Paraguay remains only Mercosur without agreement on cars with rest of trade bloc, FM says

Inflation

Inflation continues to decelerate as INDEC reveals prices rose 2.7% in June

16-07-2019 19:51 June marks the third consecutive month of decelerating inflation. Cumulative inflation for the first half of the year now totals 22.4%, with increases of 55.8% registered over last 12 months.

by Jonah Shrock

BLOOMBERG

Moody’s puts Argentina on negative outlook on uncertainty

15-07-2019 08:34 Ratings company shifts outlook from stable to negative, citing rising uncertainty about economic policy and risk of additional “damaging currency shocks.”

NEW LOAN

World Bank approves US$500-million in financing for Argentina

11-07-2019 18:50 Funds will provide budgetary support for social programmes dedicated to helping those in poverty. Latest installment is the second part of a total US$1 billion loan first agreed in November 2018.

ELECTIONS 2019: CAMPAIGN WATCH

Government sells the future, opposition stuck in present

06-07-2019 09:24 This is the year that will define whether Macri's centreright, pro-market presidency is an exception to multi-headed Peronist rule, or if it’s the new norm for 21st century Argentina.

by Marcelo J. Garcia

NEW TRADE DEAL?

Mercosur seeking trade deal with US, government confirms

06-07-2019 08:27 Following in footsteps of accord with European Union, Argentina and Brazil reveals plans for ambitious new accord.

Claudio Loser

Lagarde departure will not alter Argentina relationship, says ex offical

03-07-2019 10:23 The Mauricio Macri government signed a US$56-billion 'stand-by' loan deal with the IMF in June, 2018. Macri's opponents say the conditions of the deal must be renegotiated.

EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK

EU leaders nominate IMF chief Christine Lagarde to be the new president of ECB

02-07-2019 16:37 Lagarde has resigned from her duties as Managing Director of the IMF during the nomination period. At the IMF, Lagarde helped negotiate the fund’s biggest ever bailout when it handed more aid last year to Argentina.

ELECTIONS 2019: CAMPAIGN WATCH

Hushed dollar feeds Macri’s optimistic bias

29-06-2019 08:59 There were 204,000 less jobs in April than a year earlier. Salaries lost 10 percent of their purchasing power, also compared with a year ago. Income inequality widened and poverty climbed to 35 percent.

by Marcelo J. Garcia

LITHIUM MARKET

Lithium miners Australia and Chile see riches as battery-makers

29-06-2019 08:04 Mining superpowers supply most of the world’s lithium. Now they want to make batteries too.

BLOOMBERG

Argentina election more uncertain as pollsters go dark

27-06-2019 13:34 The dearth of reliable, public poll data leaves investors, who fear that the Fernández-Fernández ticket would reverse Mauricio Macri’s pro-market policies, unsure about the future of the Argentine economy.

Guillermo Neilsen

Alberto Fernández's economist hints at labour, pension reform to please IMF

26-06-2019 15:40 Guillermo Nielsen suggests unpopular measures could form part of an Alberto Fernández presidency's renegotiation with the International Monetary Fund.

by Alejandro Rebossio

IMF

IMF delegation arrives in Argentina to meet with Alberto Fernández, Roberto Lavagna

25-06-2019 17:38 The international organisation said that the purpose of the visit it to "exchange views on Argentina's economic current economic outlook".

BLOOMBERG

Bitcoin surges past US$11,000 marks all-time high against Argentine Peso

24-06-2019 17:29 The cryptocurrency was worth as much as US$19,500 in late 2017 before the bubble popped in 2018.

ECONOMY IN CRISIS

Strong Q1 contraction as unemployment rises

22-06-2019 08:13 Plenty of doom and gloom still in Argentina’s economic outlook with the return of double-digit unemployment and the steep first-quarter negative growth of 5.8 percent but for almost the first time this year that is not the whole story.

Bloomberg

Argentina prices may drop fast, says man who couldn't tame them

18-06-2019 13:35 Federico Sturzenegger, former president of the Central Bank of Argentina, said in his first interview since leaving office that Argentina could reach a monthly inflation rate of around one percent by the end of the year.

Nationwide power outage

Macri gov't officials left scratching heads after historic blackout

17-06-2019 09:42 Energy Secretary Gusavo Lopetegui: 'We still have no information about what happened'.

TRAVEL & TOURISM

The government gives low-cost carriers some air

15-06-2019 08:07 Differential pricing and changes in flight frequency hit Aerolíneas Argentinas and Latam above all, while favouring Flybondi and JetSmart. Benefits for Avianca too.

by Manuel Nieto

BLOOMBERG

Chile’s Central Bank on its surprise cut: 'You had been warned'

10-06-2019 14:20 Chile’s Central Bank cut rates last week, seeking to shore up their economies against a worsening US-China trade war.

ELECTIONS 2019: CAMPAIGN WATCH

Can Macri deliver a stable currency through to the elections?

08-06-2019 09:49 In the Casa Rosada they know that economic recessions can be cause for any incumbent to fail to win re-election, anywhere in the world. They are even more certain that currency instability can instantly kill prospects for any politician in Argentina.

by Marcelo J. Garcia

IMF BAILOUT

IMF chief: 'We underestimated Argentina's complicated economic situation'

06-06-2019 09:42 Managing Director Christine Lagarde admits inflation is taking "longer than expected" to fall.

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.

BLOOMBERG

Investors seek relief as trade threats rock emerging markets

04-06-2019 13:37 The first major signs that Argentina is recovering from a recession may appear in construction and industrial activity data for April on Wednesday. But amid rising global risks, such as Brazil’s slowdown, the numbers could instead confirm fears of a delayed or weak recovery.

BLOOMBERG

Alberto Fernández tells markets he won't lead Argentina into default

04-06-2019 12:58 Seeking to reassure investors, presidential hopeful tells reporters he won’t lead the country into default if he wins the presidential election in October.