Argentina

Argentina’s anarcho-capitalist president-elect is right that the country desperately needs dollars. But his economic plan for getting them may be the wrong one, the Wall Street Journal reported. Javier Milei’s victory over Economy Minister Sergio Massa in Sunday’s presidential election showed how eager Argentines are to embrace change. The economy is in tatters, with inflation running at 143%.

Consumer prices in Argentina rose last month at their fastest pace since the country was exiting hyperinflation more than three decades ago, highlighting the dire state of the economy ahead of Sunday’s presidential election, Bloomberg News reported. Prices rose 8.3% in October on a monthly basis, a notch below September’s figure and less than the 9.45% median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Annual inflation accelerated to 142.7%, according to official government data published Monday, also slightly below projections. Argentines will choose their next president on Nov.

The International Monetary Fund has hardened its view on how Argentina is running a $44 billion loan programme that has gone off track ahead of the country's key presidential vote later in November, Reuters reported. The IMF's board of executive directors met in a previously unreported meeting on Oct. 30 for an informal briefing on Argentina by the Fund's staff, as the South American nation is battling triple-digit inflation and with net reserves in the red in the run-up to the presidential vote.

Argentina urged a U.S. judge not to enforce a $16.1 billion judgment arising from the government's 2012 seizure of a majority control in state-controlled oil company YPF, while the cash-strapped country appeals the judgment, Reuters reported. In a Thursday night filing with the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, Argentina said enforcing the "truly overwhelming" judgment or requiring that it post bond would "cripple a nation already suffering from severe inflation and drought." Two investors, Petersen Energia and Eton Park Capital Management, sued, and last month U.S.

Zimbabwe gave up its unenviable position of having the world’s highest interest rate to Argentina, after slashing borrowing costs to help boost economic growth, Bloomberg News reported. The monetary policy committee cut the benchmark interest rate to 130% from 150%, which lags Argentina’s 133%. The MPC acted because of “emerging global risks and the need to keep exchange rate and inflation expectations anchored to support economic growth,” Governor John Mangudya said in an emailed statement on Tuesday.

Argentina's central bank is planning to hold fire for now on any major policy adjustments after a shock win for the Peronist government in a general election on Sunday, two bank sources said, a sharp contrast to rapid moves after an August primary, Reuters reported. Economy Minister Sergio Massa outperformed in a first round election on Sunday to take pole position ahead of a run-off vote next month where he will face radical libertarian Javier Milei, who wants to dollarize the economy and shut the central bank.

Argentina's central bank raised the country's benchmark interest rate to 145% from 118% on Thursday, a source close to the matter told Reuters, as the South American country battles triple-digit annual inflation. The hike follows the rapid freefall of Argentina's peso, with the currency surpassing the psychological barrier of 1,000 pesos per U.S. dollar earlier this week with less than two weeks before a crucial presidential election.

Economics says it’s way past time for the International Monetary Fund to pull the plug on Argentina. Geopolitics helps explain why it hasn’t — yet, Bloomberg News reported. Over the past five years, the Fund has lent $43 billion in repeated bailouts for the Latin American nation — multiples more cash than anyone else has gotten — with dismal results. On the eve of a pivotal presidential vote, Argentina has 124% inflation and its economy is in deep recession again. The latest IMF program, like so many predecessors, has essentially collapsed.

Brazilian auto exports are set to plunge by double digits in 2023 when compared with the previous year, automaker association Anfavea said on Friday, as a severe economic crisis in neighboring Argentina hits shipments to that country, Reuters reported. The association said in a statement it now projects exports to fall 12.7% in 2023 to 420,000 vehicles, a major cut from its previous estimate of a 2.9% drop in the period. "Exports have been the major warning point for the automotive sector in the first nine months of the year," it said.

Argentina's central bank is set to leave its interest rate unchanged at 118% at the directors meeting scheduled for later Thursday, an official source at the bank said, Reuters reported. Argentina is struggling to tamp down on triple-digit inflation as presidential elections loom just several weeks away. The central bank held the rate at 118% last month after raising it from 97% in the aftermath of a shock primary election which saw radical libertarian Javier Milei become the favorite to win the presidency this month. Annual inflation is running at 124%.