News of fernandez fernandez

TRADING PARTNERS

Bolsonaro, Fernández open to meeting, as ties with Brazil warm

15-02-2020 09:38 Foreign Ministry Felipe Solá flies to Brasilia this week, as ties with Argentina’s giant neighbour finally began to warm after weeks of remarks and rows.

by James Grainger

DEBT RESTRUCTURING

Cristina raises stakes for Argentina's crucial talks with IMF

15-02-2020 09:17 Vice-president lays into IMF, as government officials welcome mission team to Argentina.

GENDER ISSUES

9,000th DNI recording change of gender issued in Argentina

14-02-2020 17:11 Under a right enshrined in law in 2012, 9,000 Argentines have now altered their national identity document to reflect their change in gender.

Bloomberg - Long Read

Money manager expects crisis to worsen as Argentina's bonds blow up

14-02-2020 13:49 Investment fund Franklin Templeton’s star money manager, Michael Hasenstab, interprets government's move to delay a US$1.4-billion local bond payment as a sign that the economic slowdown is only going to worsen.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Inflation slowed in January to 2.3%, reveals INDEC

13-02-2020 16:36 Lowest monthly rate recorded since July 2019, which prices increased by 2.2%. Since January 2019, prices in Argentina have increased by 52.9%, reveals bureau.

MARKETS

Argentine bonds fall in reaction to Guzmán’s address to Congress

13-02-2020 13:13 Bonds take a hit in wake of economy minister's comments that a "deep debt restructuring" is on the cards.

DEBT RESTRUCTURING

Debt talks with IMF begin in Buenos Aires

13-02-2020 10:11 About 6,000 people demonstrated in front of Congress in Buenos Aires on Wednesday, shouting "IMF get out!" as negotiations over debt restructuring begins in earnest.

DEBT RESTRUCTURING

Guzmán warns of ‘deep debt restructuring’ in address to Congress

13-02-2020 00:32 “It’s necessary to have a deep debt restructuring,” says minister during congressional hearing, where he provided his most detailed comments about debt strategy since taking office in December.

DEBT RESTRUCTURING

Protesters set to rally as IMF arrives for debt restructuring talks

12-02-2020 08:41 Demonstrators will take to the streets of the capital this afternoon, as IMF officials arrive in Buenos Aires and Economy Minister Martín Guzmán presents his fiscal plan before Congress.

Bloomberg

Diplomatic dance: Solá heads to Brazil for meeting with Bolsonaro, Araujo

12-02-2020 08:15 Foreign minister hoping his Brazilian counterparts are also looking to turn a page, as region's top economics seek to heal diplomatic wounds.

RESTRUCTURING

Economy Ministry delays payment of AF20 bond principal

11-02-2020 17:07 Economy Ministry, headed by Martín Guzmán, slams "speculation" in fierce statement, saying it would not allow "Argentine society" to be "held hostage by international financial markets."

Colectivo chaos

38 bus routes affected by 24-hour UTA dissident strike

11-02-2020 12:52 Dissident faction of transport-workers union makes move against UTA leader Roberto Fernández, as it decries falling purchasing power.

Kirchners in Cuba

CFK shares first photo with daughter Florencia in Havana

11-02-2020 12:20 Vice-president shares first image in months of her filmmaker daughter, who has been in Cuba for nearly one year receiving medical treatment.

Bloomberg

IMF heads to BA for talks with poker-faced Fernández

11-02-2020 09:01 President Alberto Fernández has likened renegotiating the nation’s debt load to playing poker – but this week, he'll finally have to show some of his cards.

FUND CONFIRMS

IMF mission team extends Buenos Aires trip to full week

11-02-2020 08:39 Spokesperson for the International Monetary Fund confirms that mission team will stay full week in Argentina, longer than three days originally planned, with talks over nation's debt burden set to enter crucial stage.

by James Grainger

LAWFARE?

Political prisoner debate engulfs Frente de Todos coalition

10-02-2020 17:19 “It bothers me that they say I have political prisoners, because I don't have them,” President Fernández declares in interview with local radio station.

CFK ON DEBT

From Havana, CFK demands ‘substantial haircut’ of Argentina's IMF debt

10-02-2020 17:01 With Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel watching on, vice-president describes US$57-billion loan with IMF as "illegal" and demands institution take a haircut on repayments.

Abortion debate

Government will seek to legalise abortion with bill, Gómez Alcorta confirms

10-02-2020 14:36 Women, Gender, and Diversity Minister Elizabeth Gómez Alcorta reiterates that government will seek to do more than just decriminalise the procedure when it eventually sends a bill to Congress.

BLOOMBERG

Buenos Aires Province surrender sends Argentine bonds on a wild rally

10-02-2020 14:28 Province’s capitulation spurs betting on sovereign bonds, they have returned 8.7 percent since January 27. However, Argentina is still in dire need of the IMF’s approval to restructure the debt.

NEW ERA IN ARGENTINA

All is not quiet on the debt restructuring front

08-02-2020 10:15 Debt is Argentina’s disease. President Alberto Fernández, a Peronist, has said that the nation is now in “intensive care” treatment for its debt addiction. The president has also likened trying to restructure Argentina’s mammoth debt to playing poker with the good fellas. You try pulling a convincing poker face while in intensive care without your cards falling to the ground.

by Martín Gambarotta

ALBERTO’S EUROTRIP

Alberto’s upbeat Eurotrip lays the ground for debt renegotiations

08-02-2020 08:28 President Alberto Fernández went on a lightning tour of Old World capitals looking for political support ahead of Argentina’s debt negotiations with the International Monetary Fund and private creditors.

ABORTION DEBATE

Government aims at legalisation, Church challenges abortion plan

07-02-2020 20:44 While the government looks to forward to the legalisation and decriminalisation of abortion, Archbishop Emeritus of La Plata Héctor Aguer challenged the Fernández administration: "Let's see if they get the votes.”

POVERTY & HUNGER

Argentina’s double trouble: reducing poverty and debt

06-02-2020 16:42 President Alberto Fernández launches food coupons as a temporary solution to reduce poverty and hunger among vulnerable populations in Argentina.

Economic Crisis

Argentine Senate passes debt-restructuring bill

06-02-2020 13:02 The Fernández administration will have significant leeway in determining how to restructure the debt, which currently sits at around US$335 billion

Alberto in Europe

France will back Argentina to renegotiate debt with the IMF

05-02-2020 13:14 Alberto Fernández continues his european tour with French President Emmanuel Macron’s company at Elysée Palace in order to obtain significant political support to negotiate a rescheduling of the maturities of Argentina's large foreign debt.

Alberto in Europe

Fernández discusses debt with Spanish PM in Madrid

04-02-2020 18:24 Before concluding his Europe trip in France, the Peronist leader met with Pedro Sánchez, the prime minister of Spain, to discuss IMF debt renegotiations.

Ambassadorial Shakeup

Ricardo Alfonsín appointed Ambassador to Spain

04-02-2020 16:20 The son of former Argentine President Raúl Alfonsín and prominent voice of the Unión Cívica Radical party accepted the position earlier today.

Alberto in Europe

Alberto meets with Merkel amid IMF negotiations

03-02-2020 18:01 The Peronist leader had a dinner with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, where the duo discussed debt and potential Argentine-German investments.

Bloomberg

World’s biggest carnivores are turning their backs on beef

03-02-2020 15:08 In Argentina, red meat consumption in the country has fallen to its lowest level in a century due to galloping local inflation. The national meal is a strategic issue for President Alberto Fernández, who is seeking to further cap the price to make beef affordable again.

ECONOMIC CRISIS

Kulfas: there is no ‘magic way’ to recovery on a very short term

03-02-2020 13:52 The Minister of Productive Development and prolific author, Matías Kulfas, affirmed that there is no magic trick to reactivate the Argentine economy in the very short term. Thus, economic recovery should be expected over a much longer horizon as the government tries to curb the recession.

Bloomberg - Long read

Guzmán's ambitious plan to diffuse Argentina's debt bomb

03-02-2020 13:16 The government's proposed timeline to fix the US$311 billion debt problem was met with scepticism, but the plan offers a glimpse of how the Fernandez administration hopes to proceed.

IAD BANK

Mexico plans to back Argentina in race to lead the IAD Bank

03-02-2020 11:59 Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’ administration plans to support Argentina in the race to lead the Inter-American Development Bank (IAD), while Argentine government hasn’t publicly said yet if it will field a candidate and declined to comment on Mexico’s support.

ALBERTO IN EUROPE

Fernández and Francis try to steer clear of abortion issue

01-02-2020 09:12 Poverty and debt on agenda as president and the pontiff meet at Vatican – but mixed messages emerge over discussions over abortion reform.

by Joseph Charney

POPE & THE PRESIDENT

President Fernández meets with Pope Francis at the Vatican

31-01-2020 10:08 President and pontiff speak for about 45 minutes in Francis' private library, as Frente de Todos leader's first stop on European tour.

BLOOMBERG

Wall Street sceptical Argentina can meet March 31 debt deadline

30-01-2020 22:21 President Alberto Fernández’s March 31 deadline to wrap up talks with bondholders is increasingly looking like a long shot, according to Wall Street experts

URUGUAY TAX REFORM

Got US$500,000 and 90 days? Uruguay might have an offer for you

30-01-2020 16:46 President-elect Luis Lacalle Pou is considering changes in tax-residency rules to woo people to neighbouring Uruguay.

Diplomacy

María Fernanda Silva to be Argentina's new ambassador to Vatican

30-01-2020 14:41 Catholic and the first Afro-descendant woman of the Argentine foreign service, according to local reports, Silva will be the first woman to occupy the role.

Aníbal returns

Aníbal Fernández appointed trustee of Río Turbio coal-mine

30-01-2020 14:39 Ex-Cabinet chief and government minister returns to government, as President Alberto Fernández signs decree appointing him to position underneath Production Minister Matías Kulfas.

Alberto and the Pope

Alberto Fernández lands in Rome as Euro tour begins

30-01-2020 13:56 Peronist leader begins his trek across Europe, where he is expected to lobby various heads of states to support his debt renegotiation plan – and meet a fellow Argentine at the Holy See.

FUEL PRICES

Government extends fuel price freeze until end of February

30-01-2020 13:38 Fernández administration to retain restrictions until the end of February in order to curb inflation.

DEBT TALKS

Government lays out timetable for debt talks and IMF visit

30-01-2020 08:25 The government laid out its agenda for debt negotiations with private creditors on Wednesday, publishing a timetable on the Economy Ministry's website.

DEBT TALKS

Chamber of Deputies approves government's debt restructuring bill

29-01-2020 16:46 Lawmakers in lower house Chamber of Deputies back bill to restructure the country's external public debt during special session. It will head to the Senate next week.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

IMF predicts Argentina's economy will contract by 1.3% in 2020

29-01-2020 13:45 Fund maintains previous forecast and predicts growth will return in 2021. However, uncertainty over Latin America as a whole led to an interesting omission in the IMF's latest report.

BBC INTERVIEW

Stiglitz: 'Macri bet the house and lenders followed him blindly'

29-01-2020 12:19 Famed economist and mentor to Martín Guzmán offers his take on renegotiation of Argentina's debt, questioning creditors and criticising the Mauricio Macri government.

IMF TALKS

IMF team set for Argentina in February after 'positive' talks with Guzmán

28-01-2020 23:38 Economy Minister Martín Guzmán holds "very productive" talks with officials from International Monetary Fund in New York, as Argentina looks to stretch payment terms of its US$44-billion credit-line.

Bloomberg

Clean energy boom threatened by Argentina’s free-market fizzle

28-01-2020 12:50 Macri-era investment into clean energy along Argentina's Atlantic coast will be difficult to sustain in current economic climate, writes Jonathan Gilbert.

Alberto's European tour

Fernández to chase IMF votes on upcoming Europe trip

27-01-2020 13:38 President will make stops in Italy, Germany, Spain, and France, with bilateral meetings with the heads of states of each country scheduled.

DEBT TALKS

Fernández: 'A country in debt loses its sovereignty'

27-01-2020 13:20 Argentina needs to define how it will deal with bulging US$335-billion debt pile, says president, as Economy Minister Martin Guzmán heads to the United States.

BLOOMBERG

Ex-Elliott lawyer builds creditor group for Argentine rematch

27-01-2020 12:14 Dennis Hranitzky, an attorney who helped hedge fund billionaire Paul Singer win a 15-year bond battle against Argentina, is gearing up for a potential rematch.

NEW ERA IN ARGENTINA

Back to the (Western) World

25-01-2020 11:34 At policy level the administration is seeking to cultivate ties with the US on the issues that Trump White House most cares about.

by Marcelo J. Garcia