Argentina sharply reduced its budget deficit in 2021 as President Alberto Fernández tries to cut down on spending amid talks with the International Monetary Fund. The so-called primary deficit, which excludes interest payments, fell to three percent of gross domestic product from 6.5 percent in 2020. The figure, boosted by proceeds from a wealth tax, … Read more
Argentina’s consumer price index accelerated in December by 3.8 percent, lifting the country’s inflation rate for 2021 to 50.9 percent – one of the highest rates in the world. The data, posted by the INDEC national statistics bureau on Thursday, underlines Argentina’s continued struggle to tackle runaway price increases. In 2020 – a year when … Read more
Brazil’s consumer prices rose more than expected last year, dogging the central bank and its efforts to bring inflation back to target. Prices increased 10.06 percent in December from a year ago, above the 9.96 percent median forecast in a Bloomberg survey. They rose 0.73% on the month, the national statistics agency reported on Tuesday. … Read more
Argentina’s currency fell sharply on the parallel market this week, with the blue dollar selling at an all-time high of 207 pesos on Thursday, just days ahead of key legislative elections. However, by Friday – the last business day before tomorrow’s vote – the dolár blue had taken a breather, dropping to 202 pesos. Meanwhile, … Read more
President Alberto Fernández has accused the International Monetary Fund (IMF) of seeking to “impose” a programme of “austerity” on Argentina that would limit future growth. Speaking in an interview with local radio station AM750, the Peronist leader confirmed that his government is still seeking a deal to restructure its US$44-billion debt with the multilateral lender, … Read more
Argentine dollar bonds fell the most since September after Economy Minister Martín Guzmán criticised spending cuts proposed by the International Monetary Fund, highlighting the difficulties ahead in securing a new agreement. Notes maturing in 2041 dropped one cent to 32.8 cents on the dollar, the biggest decline since September 20, according to data compiled by … Read more
Argentina’s currency plunged on Wednesday on the parallel market, with the ‘blue’ dollar hitting a record high of 209 pesos, marking a 103 percent gap with the official exchange rate of 108.16 per greenback The blue dollar has risen from 199 to 209 pesos per dollar over the past week, pressured by liquidity due to … Read more
Officials at the International Monetary Fund see some benefit in delaying a US$ 45-billion agreement with Argentina after the nation’s midterm election in October, with talks yielding little progress six months after they began, according to people familiar with the situation. While IMF negotiators prefer to hash out a deal with Argentina as soon as … Read more
Prices in February rose 3.6 percent from January, the INDEC national statistics bureau revealed Thursday, a slight deceleration on 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. The news casts a shadow over President Alberto Fernández’s hopes of … Read more
More than 450 civil society groups, associations and non-governmental organisations have united to call on nations to “abandon” the controversial EU-Mercosur trade deal. Underlining the strong opposition to the accord, as yet unratified, that is growing in Europe, hundreds of groups announced Tuesday they were uniting to form the Stop Ceta-Mercosur collective in a bid … Read more