Argentina

Argentina's monthly inflation rate likely edged down to 12% in March, analysts polled by Reuters estimated, which would mark a third straight month of deceleration for prices and a boost for new libertarian President Javier Milei's economic reform drive, Reuters reported. The South American country has the world's highest inflation with the annualized rate running over 275%, which hurts consumer spending power and dampens the economy. Milei has made curbing prices a focus via an austerity package of cuts.

Argentina’s economy shrank in the fourth quarter, consolidating a full year of negative growth, even before incoming President Javier Milei slashed spending as part of his shock therapy, Bloomberg News reported. Gross domestic product fell 1.9% compared to the period between July and September, according to official government data published Wednesday. Activity contracted 1.4% from a year earlier, slightly less the median estimate of a 1.5% decline of economists surveyed by Bloomberg.

Argentina’s central bank isn’t offering put options for peso bonds the government is selling this week in a record debt swap, a move that’s discouraged private banks from participating in the deal, Bloomberg News reported. The decision not to include puts — pledges to buy back bonds if they fall below a certain price — is key because they’re one of the main tools to persuade banks to swap peso bonds maturing this year for new notes that stretch between 2025 and 2028, the people said.

Argentina is starting a record swap of peso-denominated debt Monday in a bid to roll over almost all of its 2024 maturities into the next four years, providing a temporary respite to President Javier Milei’s government, Bloomberg News reported. The economy ministry published late Friday a list with the bonds it seeks to repurchase and sell, saying it will receive offers from investors until Tuesday 3 p.m. in Buenos Aires (2 p.m. ET). The swap may amount to 55 trillion pesos ($65 billion), according to Juan Manuel Truffa, partner and director at local consulting firm Outlier.

Argentina's industrial output slid 12.4% in January from a year earlier, the second straight month it has plunged in double digits amid a tough austerity and cost-cutting drive since new libertarian President Javier Milei took office in December, Reuters reported. The decline was the eighth straight month falling, official data showed Wednesday, amid a prolonged economic contraction and soaring inflation running at over 250%, that has badly hurt consumer spending power and consumption.

Argentina is talking to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) about a possible new financing program with different targets for the embattled economy, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said after meeting Economy Minister Luis Caputo, Reuters reported. The new government of libertarian President Javier Milei is willing to take "very promising" steps to deal with the South American's economy's underlying problems, Yellen told Reuters on Thursday after her first meeting with Caputo.

Argentina’s economy contracted in December by the most since the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic as newly elected President Javier Milei put in motion shock austerity measures that slammed the brakes on consumption, Bloomberg News reported. Economic activity in December fell 3.1% from November, according to government data published Thursday, a drop not seen since April 2020. From the same month a year earlier, activity fell 4.5%, more than the 3.2% decline forecast by economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The contraction was driven by declines in the financial sector, manufacturing and commerce.

Argentina must pay a large deposit in a case brought by hedge funds seeking $1.5 billion in compensation for losses in the nation’s growth-linked securities, London’s Court of Appeal ruled, Bloomberg News reported. The South American nation must pay down €310 million ($337 million) before a full appeal is heard. Hedge funds, including Palladian Partners LP, won the case for compensation in a lower court last year. Argentina has until April 5 to deposit the cash in a trustee account, a judge ruled Thursday.

The International Monetary Fund’s executive board approved a $4.7 billion disbursement to the government of Argentine President Javier Milei, Bloomberg News reported. The payments are part of a refinanced $44 billion program, the lender’s largest, that was beset by uncertainty for months during the election campaign that saw Milei oust the Peronist government of Alberto Fernandez. The board’s decision Wednesday follows a staff-level agreement reached in Buenos Aires earlier this month.

The International Monetary Fund revised down its growth estimate for Argentina, forecasting South America’s second-largest economy will shrink for two consecutive years as President Javier Milei pushes for a “significant policy adjustment,” Bloomberg News reported. Argentina’s gross domestic product will contract 2.8% this year as inflation soars, following a 1.1% decline in 2023, according to the IMF’s latest estimates for the global economy published Tuesday. Back in October, the Fund forecast 2.8% growth in 2024.