News of paso

RATE CUT

Central Bank cuts interest rate to 38%

06-03-2020 08:00 In its statement, the Central Bank’s committee said cooling prices justified the rate cut but that the economy wasn’t in the clear yet.

RATE CUT

Central Bank lowers key rate to 40%, extending cuts

19-02-2020 18:15 Central Bank chief Miguel Pesce justifies the rate cuts as a tool to help turn around Argentina’s economy, which is expected to contract for the third straight year in 2020.

RATE CUT

Central Bank cuts key interest rate for fifth time since December 10

30-01-2020 21:29 Rate floor cut to 48 percent on Thursday from 50 percent. Central bank chief Miguel Pesce has lowered it from 63 percent since taking office December 10.

PETROL PRICES

Uncertainty after Fernández orders YPF to halt rise in petrol prices

03-01-2020 07:00 President’s decision to order the YPF state oil company to halt a five percent increase in petrol prices creates uncertainty among producers and suppliers.

TRANSITION 2019

Sandleris confirms resignation as Central Bank chief

05-12-2019 06:58 Central Bank chief confirms he will resign post ahead of December 10 handover. Argentina's monetary institution has had 61 presidents in the 84 years since its founding.

FUEL PRICES

Government's fuel prize freeze ends with 5% hike

14-11-2019 15:42 Formal end of the 90-day fuel price freeze, imposed in wake of Macri's PASO defeat arrives, with prices rising from today by a five percent rise on average.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Central Bank alters 2019 forecasts: 3% drop in GDP, inflation at 55.6%

05-11-2019 14:15 Monthly survey carried out by Central Bank downgrades forecasts for Argentina's economy.

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.

BLOOMBERG

Markets: Here’s what to watch after Argentines vote on Sunday

24-10-2019 13:34 With frontrunner Alberto Fernández in pole position, the question is how much support the new government will get in Congress and how conciliatory he may prove to market-friendly incumbent Mauricio Macri.

CENTRAL BANK

Sandleris asks for 'basic consensus' to ensure Argentina grows

16-10-2019 08:29 "If we manage to build basic consensus, our economy can leave behind instability and crisis, so that we can begin to grow steadily and begin to lower inflation," declares Central Bank chief.

Election 2019

Kicillof: 'There are people selling drugs because they have lost their jobs'

07-10-2019 13:50 "From going to the neighborhoods I heard news that due to the drop in employment, there are people who selling drugs," says Kicillof, prompting criticism from Patricia Bullrich and Cristian Ritondo.

BLOOMBERG

Argentines shift money into short-term deposits ahead of election

03-10-2019 18:46 As the presidential vote draws closer, savers are increasingly choosing short-term instruments for their deposits.

PROVINCIAL RELATIONS

Supreme Court rules for provinces in row over tax, IVA cuts

02-10-2019 16:42 In a blow to the Macri administration, Justices rule that national government's post-PASO measures should not be funded by co-participatory funds.

ELECTION 2019

Suárez's victory in Mendoza provides boost for Macri's re-election bid

30-09-2019 10:01 Rodolfo Suárez, Radical candidate running for Cambia Mendoza, emerges victorious with margin of more than 15 points over Peronist rival Anabel Fernández Sagasti, offering president timely boost.

Predicting the future

What will Macri be like when he leads the opposition?

28-09-2019 04:29 Will Macri’s real contribution to the country be the construction of a reasonable opposition?

by Agustino Fontevecchia

DEBT DEBATE

Alberto Fernández offers first real hint as to how he will deal with debt

28-09-2019 03:14 Frontrunner in October’s presidential vote hints at Uruguay-style solution to debt problem, adding that he expects a “serious and sensible” negotiation with creditors.

BLOOMBERG

With controls in place, Central Bank cuts 85% rate, buys dollars

18-09-2019 14:08 Institution's move to choke off dollars hands peso some breathing room, with Central Bank buying dollars for first time in seven months.

CAMPAIGN WATCH

Macri and Fernández have good reason to cooperate

13-09-2019 23:48 If he wants to have a future in politics, namely lead the opposition or even dream of a comeback à la Chile’s Sebastián Piñera, Macri needs to deliver an orderly end to his traumatic first administration.

by Marcelo J. Garcia

Op-Ed

Contradictions, convictions and convergence

13-09-2019 22:58 Contradictions have been constant in the five weeks since the PASO upset conferred frontrunner status on Fernández – an upset which has triggered sporadic market mayhem and massive downtown picket protests.

STATE-RUN ENERGY FIRM

YPF pursues US$5-billion LNG project, despite political havoc

05-09-2019 07:00 Argentina’s state-run oil company is pressing on with plans despite financial and political chaos.

Turbulence

The campaign or the nation?

31-08-2019 01:30 Argentina’s ninth debt default in its history is but one more stain in an already tarnished reputation.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

AS I SEE IT

Something unpleasant is coming our way

31-08-2019 01:07 If Alberto Fernández does win office in October, his government will have to choose between setting off a hyperinflationary firestorm and undertaking a fiscal squeeze every bit as ferocious as was applied in 2002.

by James Neilson

INTERVIEW: PERIODISMO PURO

Pichetto: 'Words like 'irreversible' are too rigid for Argentine politics.'

31-08-2019 00:55 From Peronist Senate stalwart to vice-presidential candidate. President Mauricio Macri’s running-mate, Miguel Ángel Pichetto explains why Juntos por el Cambio can still win in October.

by Jorge Fontevecchia

argentina

What we learned this week: August 24 to 30

31-08-2019 00:17 Key stories from the last seven days in Argentina.

BLOOMBERG

Argentina’s dire month: from dry run election to quasi default

30-08-2019 11:20 The government's debt restructuring closes out month of economic turbulence.

PASO RESULTS

Final PASO results: Fernández beats Macri by four million votes

29-08-2019 18:19 In Buenos Aires Province, Axel Kicillof confirmed a victory over María Eugenia Vidal by 1.7 million votes.

BLOOMBERG

Bond investors keen to hear from Alberto Fernández's economic advisors

27-08-2019 12:24 Money managers including BlackRock, Goldman Sachs and others have made contact with advisers to Alberto Fernández, with some pleasantly surprised by what they've heard.

ECONOMIC MEASURES

16 governors appeal to Supreme Court over Macri's IVA cut

26-08-2019 14:04 The governors argue the sales tax cut is unconstitutional and circumvents Congress.

DOWNTOWN RALLY

Pro-Macri rally brings tens of thousands to streets of Buenos Aires

25-08-2019 09:09 Supporters march from Obelisk to Plaza de Mayo. President Macri greets crowd from balcony of Casa Rosada. The demonstration, organised through social networks, comes in the wake of Macri's electoral setback in recent PASO primary elections.

FEDERAL ECONOMIES

Macri’s post-PASO measures meet with resistance from provinces

24-08-2019 09:25 Opposition governors claim measures are unconstitutional in statement. Oil-producing provinces go to Supreme Court to challenge emergency decree freezing fuel prices for 90 days.

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.

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.

Bolsonaro's Brazil

Bolsonaro: Argentines took out money from banks 'en masse' after Fernández win

19-08-2019 15:06 Since the Frente de Todos candidate's win in this month's primary, the Brazilian president has repeatedly attacked the Kirchnerite party, slamming "leftist bandits" seeking "return to power."

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.

BLOOMBERG

Fresh turmoil on cards after Dujovne resignation, debt downgrades

19-08-2019 08:11 Negative headlines may unleash a fresh bout of market turmoil after a brief respite at the end of last week. Argentina’s global bonds will be the first to react, while the nation’s currency and stock markets remain closed on Monday due to a local holiday.

ECONOMIC MEASURES

President echoes opponents with post-PASO measures for pockets

17-08-2019 11:05 In wake of heavy defeat in primaries, Macri administration annonuces salary hikes, tax cuts and slashes IVA off basic food products, in bid to tackle runaway inflation and get voters back onside.

POST-PASO ARGENTINA

A week is a long time in politics

17-08-2019 10:46 President Mauricio Macri’s PASO loss to Alberto Fernández has dramatically altered Argentina’s political landscape.

by James Grainger

ELECTION 2019

Macri fumbles PASO

17-08-2019 09:59 How did that happen? Well, unemployment is higher than in 2015. Poverty is higher than 2015. Inflation is higher than in 2015. Voters are having a hard time making ends meet. Top all that with the massive utility rate hikes and what do you get? Electoral defeat, that’s what.

by Martín Gambarotta

ELECTION 2019

Post PASO depression

17-08-2019 09:09 The country finds itself in a conundrum. An election that is not an election has prompted a potential ‘puppet candidate’ into a virtual status of power.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

Héctor Torres: ‘Macri has to work for the country, not for his re-election’

16-08-2019 17:22 Former IMF executive director and international economic law and trade expert Héctor Torres on ‘Black Monday,’ the errors of the Macri administration and why Alberto Fernández and the president must put Argentina first.

by Lucas Robinson

PASO FALL-OUT

Macri moves to eliminate IVA from food items

15-08-2019 20:48 President moves to eliminate IVA (VAT, value-added tax) from basic food products – such as bread, milk and other foods – until December.

BLOOMBERG – ANALYSIS

Markets: Dead-cat bounce finally arrives for Argentine markets

15-08-2019 15:08 After a brutal three-day sell-off that saw average yields spike to 21% and an implied probability of default gauge surge above 80% percent, investors finally found prices cheap enough to begin taking risk in the battered credit.

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."

BLOOMBERG

Bitcoin draws premium in Argentina and Hong Kong amid sell-off

14-08-2019 09:35 The turmoil in Argentina and Hong Kong is prompting local investors to pay a premium for Bitcoin.

BLOOMBERG

YPF bonds hit record low after Fernández-Fernández PASO win

13-08-2019 09:16 Bonds drop amid fears Peronist victory will lead to re-imposition of regulated energy prices.

PASO FALL-OUT

'We need more time to reflect,' says Vidal after PASO loss to Kicillof

12-08-2019 16:34 Buenos Aires Province Governor María Eugenia Vidal admits her government has to 'listen' to voters in the province in run-up to October's decisive vote, after steep loss to Kirchnerite hopeful Axel Kicillof.

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

PASO

Lula, Bolsonaro react to PASO vote

12-08-2019 13:35 The jailed former Brazilian president tweeted: "It's necessary to give hope to the people, to bring better days and tend to those who need it most."

Black monday

Black Monday: Peso slumps to 60 per dollar in some banks, MERVAL collapses

12-08-2019 13:18 Central bank ups interest rates to nearly 75 percent as peso and stock market collapse.

PASO

Kicillof routs Vidal in Buenos Aires Province gubernatorial race

11-08-2019 23:30 Former economy minister garners nearly half the entire votes in province, 49 percent, against the incumbent governor's 32 percent.