Investment firms including Oaktree Capital Management and BlackRock Inc. are organising into two groups to negotiate with YPF SA after the Argentine oil producer proposed a debt swap that would saddle them with losses, according to people familiar with the matter. BlackRock is among a consortium of experienced emerging-market investors such as Ashmore Group Plc … Read more
How long will he last? First, he suffered a last second modification to the 2021 budget which increased the fiscal deficit substantially. Then, he was forced to swallow a sudden change to the formula used to calculate retiree and pension payments, further increasing pressure on already strained government coffers, orchestrated by none other than Senate … Read more
A failure in “high-voltage lines” left more than 300,000 people in Buenos Aires without electricity for four hours on Tuesday. The cut, which affected neighbourhoods in the centre and south of the city, came on a day of oppressive heat and high commercial activity ahead of the Christmas holidays. The blackout “occurred due to an intentional … Read more
Argentine soybean workers reached an agreement on wage talks, ending a strike that had snarled shipments and fuelled a surge in Chicago futures. The deal includes a 35 percent salary increase in 2020, an annual bonus equal to the 2020 salary with the 35 percent raise, an exceptional bonus for the employees who worked during … Read more
As last year drew to a close, a strike by soy-crushing workers that had lasted most of December, crippling agro-industrial exports was settled. This week, world soy prices topped US$ 500 per ton – the highest since 2014. However, a new cloud now looms on the rural horizon over another crop – a farm stoppage … Read more
With classroom education dead in the water all last year save the odd hinterland rural school and with teacher unions threatening this new year by making the perfect the enemy of the good in demanding blanket vaccination among other protocols before returning to work, why is a drastic educational reform not given the same prominence … Read more
Maize in a maze would be as good a way as any of describing the government’s slapdash suspension of corn exports early in this new year, only to retreat before mid-January in the face of a fairly toothless farm stoppage – with so much lockdown, we can do without lockout. At first sight this futile … Read more
More than half the world’s nations failed to submit upgraded commitments by year’s end to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, straggling behind the schedule of accelerated climate ambitions set out in the Paris Agreement. Almost every country on the planet signed up to the 2015 Paris deal, which calls for capping global warming at “well … Read more
The UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean on Wednesday slashed its projection for the region’s GDP fall for 2020 from 9.1 to 7.7 percent. ECLAC said the gradual reopening of economies shut down to combat the coronavirus pandemic and financial help for families and businesses, especially in the region’s largest economy Brazil, … Read more
Shunned in global financial markets, Argentina is seeking about US$ 5 billion for next year from multilateral organisations other than the International Monetary Fund as it negotiates a larger refinancing programme with the Washington-based lender, according to three people familiar with the plans. Alberto Fernández’s administration is looking to institutions including the Inter-American Development Bank … Read more