Guzmán flies to United States for talks with IMF, investors

Economy Minister Martín Guzmán boarded a plane for New York on Wednesday night, ahead of a series of meetings with investors and officials from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the United States. The minister’s official agenda has not been released, but it is understood that talks with IMF officials over a new financing programme … Read more

Guzmán to hold talks with IMF in Washington on March 23-24

Economy Minister Martín Guzmán will meet with officials from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington in 10 days time, the multilateral lender confirmed Thursday. “We continue to actively, constructively engage with the Argentine authorities as they work on laying out their economic plan that could be supported by a Fund programme, said IMF spokesperson … Read more

No Bolsonaro in BA – Government takes Mercosur ceremony online

It looks like Jair Bolsonaro will not be steeping foot in Buenos Aires anytime soon. Argentina has suspended a historic ceremony marking the 30th anniversary of the Mercosur regional trade bloc, due to be held later this month, the Foreign Ministry said Saturday. President Alberto Fernández and his counterparts from Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia were … Read more

Forecasts and forebodings

The shortest month of the year does not necessarily have the lowest inflation and this February looks like being no exception with the 3.6 percent posted by INDEC statistics bureau on Thursday (although, if it does turn out to be the lowest figure of 2021, then both the government and the country are in deep … Read more

Benjamin Cohen: ‘Dollar will not be challenged by yuan for at least a decade’

There are no great powers without great currencies. The competition between the United States and China also has a financial and monetary chapter, perhaps the most sensitive aspect of the bilateral relationship between the two superpowers.  Benjamin Cohen, one of the founding fathers of International Political Economy (IPE) – a field of studies that combines … Read more

Argentina CPI-linked bonds fall on possible change to basket

Argentina’s inflation-linked bonds fell Monday as the country’s statistics agency, INDEC, plans to modify the basket it uses to measure inflation. Bloomberg News reported earlier on Monday that Indec is working to change the price basket it uses to measure inflation, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter. The modifications, which seek … Read more

More of the same?

Argentina’s sovereign bonds are currently indicating that the country is on track to implode in the medium term. They are trading at 30 cents on the dollar, with an implied interest rate of more than 20 percent and what is known as an “inverted yield curve,” meaning longer duration bonds offer lower rates than shorter … Read more

INDEC: Inflation in February hit 3.6%

Prices in February rose 3.6 percent from January, the INDEC national statistics bureau revealed Thursday, a slight slowing from the preceding two months. Nevertheless, the steep monthly increase means that inflation totalled 7.8 percent in just the first two months of 2021 in Argentina, casting a shadow over President Alberto Fernández’s hopes of tampering down … Read more

Ticket to ride: Vaccine passports divide world

The idea of vaccine passports, which would allow people who have been inoculated the freedom to travel, is gaining traction. While some countries trumpet them as a way out for the hard-hit tourism and airline industries, others are more sceptical with only a tiny percentage of the world’s population vaccinated.  As European Union leaders debate … Read more

Government considers using new IMF reserves for loan payment

Argentina is considering using new reserves to be issued by the International Monetary Fund to make a payment due to the lender in September, according to a person with direct knowledge, a move that would allow more time to overhaul an outstanding US$ 45-billion loan. The new IMF reserve assets, called special drawing rights, or … Read more