The global surge in fuel prices is exposing how unevenly South America is positioned to absorb the shock, with Argentina’s radical free‑market experiment under President Javier Milei facing particular pressure, Reuters reported. Among Argentina's neighbors, import‑dependent Chile has been among the hardest hit by fallout from the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran. Fuel prices there are set to jump as much as 30% for gasoline and 60% for diesel after the government was forced to unwind its price‑stabilization scheme, citing strained public finances.
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The commercial court declared the bankruptcy of Plunimar S.A., the operating company of the Aquarium of Mar del Plata, according to Noticias Ambientales. Consequently, the process revealed an issue that goes beyond financial matters: the sale of animals. Currently, 66 animals remain on the premises under judicial administration. Among them are penguins and sea lions that require constant attention. Additionally, the case is being processed in the National Commercial Court No. 20. Thus, a scenario has opened where the priority is not only economic but also environmental.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on Friday struck down a $16.1 billion judgment against Argentina for seizing control of state-owned oil company YPF in 2012, a victory for Argentine President Javier Milei as he tries to stabilize the country's long-strained economy, Reuters reported. Argentina had been seeking to overturn the $16.1 billion award in September 2023 by a lower court judge to former YPF shareholders Petersen Energia Inversora and Eton Park Capital Management for alleged losses tied to YPF's nationalization.
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Argentina won an order blocking holders of a US$16.1-billion US judgment against it from seeking information on seizable assets until a federal appeals court in New York rules on the nation’s challenge to the award, Bloomberg reported. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on Wednesday paused efforts by former YPF SA shareholders backed by litigation funder Burford Capital to obtain the communications of current and former Argentine officials or pursue evidence related to the location of gold bars the country’s central bank moved overseas.
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The resignation of Argentina’s national-statistics chief over a new inflation index is testing investor confidence in President Javier Milei’s economic overhaul, reviving memories of efforts by his Peronist predecessors to doctor consumer-price data, the Wall Street Journal reported. Marco Lavagna, head of Argentina’s Indec statistics agency, stepped down Monday after the government delayed plans to update the country’s inflation index, which economists said understates current price increases.
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Argentina’s central bank said on Monday that it would allow the peso to move more freely, responding to investors who have demanded President Javier Milei’s government correct an overvalued currency, the Wall Street Journal reported. Milei’s administration now lets the peso sell freely within a band with upper and lower limits, rather than allowing it to float as the U.S. and other countries permit with their currencies. Beginning next year, the new policy will allow the band to expand at the rate of monthly inflation, which was 2.5% in November, the central bank said.
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The Central Bank of Argentina (BCRA) is analyzing lifting the crypto ban on banks and allowing them to provide account holders with digital asset-related services, according to Argentinian newspaper, La Nacion, Reuters reported. The new rules for banks could be ready as soon as April 2026, La Nacion reported, quoting sources close to the BCRA.
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A planned $20 billion bailout to Argentina from JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Citigroup has been shelved as bankers pivot instead to a smaller, short-term loan package to support the financially distressed government, the Wall Street Journal reported. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and the Trump administration had been seeking to bolster Argentine President Javier Milei’s pro-reform party when they announced a pair of financial lifelines this fall. The package included a $20 billion currency swap with the U.S.
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The United States said on Thursday that it will remove tariffs on some foods and other imports from Argentina, Ecuador, Guatemala and El Salvador under framework agreements that will give U.S. firms greater access to those markets, Reuters reported. The agreements are expected to help lower prices for coffee, bananas and other foodstuffs, a senior Trump administration official told reporters, adding the administration expected U.S. retailers to pass on the positive effects to American consumers.
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Argentina may not ultimately need a bank loan, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said on Wednesday, adding Argentine President Javier Milei is doing a good job overhauling the country's troubled economy. "There is around $100 billion of foreign capital that may well come back to Argentina," Dimon said in a wide-ranging interview with Reuters in Detroit.