A group of banks including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Goldman Sachs is struggling to put together a $20 billion loan to Argentina without leaving themselves too exposed to the financially distressed South American country, the Wall Street Journal reported. The bank loans would be part of the Trump administration’s plan to backstop the finances of libertarian President Javier Milei’s government with a $40 billion package, including a $20 billion currency swap with the U.S. Treasury Department and the separate $20 billion bank-led debt facility.
        
  
      
  
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  Banks including JPMorgan, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup are in talks with the U.S. Treasury to provide up to $20 billion in loans to Argentina, Semafor reported on Thursday, Reuters reported. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday had said that the department was working with banks and investment funds to create a $20 billion facility to invest in the South American country's sovereign debt. Bessent said that the facility would sit alongside a new $20 billion U.S.
        
  
      
  
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  Persistent exchange rate pressures continued to weigh on Argentina's financial markets on Wednesday, straining the Treasury as proceeds from a special liquidation deal with agricultural exporters dwindle, Reuters reported. Traders estimate the Treasury, under the Ministry of Economy, has sold more than $1.6 billion in the past six trading sessions to support the weakening peso. The ministry does not publicly report its market operations.
        
  
      
  
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  Argentina's economic activity grew 2.9% in July compared with the same month last year, official data showed on Wednesday. The figure for Latin America's third-largest economy came in below the 3.3% figure projected by analysts polled by Reuters.
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  Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday announced the Trump administration is looking at options to provide Argentina a financial lifeline as the country struggles to overhaul its economy, the Wall Street Journal reported.  Bessent in a series of posts on X laid out the options administration officials are reviewing to backstop Argentina if the country under President Javier Milei’s leadership can’t overcome its financial woes. “These options may include, but are not limited to, swap lines, direct currency purchases, and purchases of U.S.
        
  
      
  
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  Pulp and paper manufacturer Celulosa Argentina SA filed for bankruptcy protection Monday, blaming the government of President Javier Milei for creating a bad business environment for local industry, the Buenos Aires Times reported. After missing bond payments, Celulosa, based in agricultural export hub Rosario, is now seeking protection from creditors in Argentina’s equivalent of a Chapter 11 process, according to an investor filing. Its locally traded shares slumped by as much as 17 percent on Monday and are down nearly 80 percent so far this year.
        
  
      
  
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  Argentina's central bank on Tuesday raised its reserve requirements for banks to a level analysts said could risk slowing the economy, a move analysts say aims to soothe markets as the government of President Javier Milei is rocked by corruption allegations ahead of key legislative elections, Reuters reported. The 3.5% increase - the third increase in recent weeks - is set to come into force on September 1, affecting a range of existing reserve requirement rates that average around 45%.
        
  
      
  
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  Argentine authorities are stepping up scrutiny of investor activity in repo loans, the short-term financial instruments that have seen interest rates touch record highs amid a liquidity crunch at the nation’s banks, Bloomberg News reported. The Central Bank and local regulator CNV asked for help analysing the real-time data they receive daily from the country’s two main exchanges, BYMA and A3, on the short-term instruments known locally as cauciones bursátiles, according to people familiar with the matter.
        
  
      
  
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  A U.S. appeals court on Friday granted Argentina's request to put on temporary hold a judge's order that it turn over its 51% stake in oil and gas company YPF to partially satisfy a $16.1 billion judgment won by two investors, Reuters reported. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit stayed U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska's June 30 turnover order while Argentina appeals. Argentina has warned that it would suffer irreparable harm and its economy could be destabilized if it gave up its stake in YPF, the country's largest energy company.
        
  
      
  
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  Moody’s Ratings upgraded Argentina’s credit ratings and upped its outlook, citing stabilizing and disinflationary macroeconomic reforms, the Wall Street Journal reported. The ratings agency upped the country’s long-term foreign currency sovereign credit ratings and local currency issuer ratings to Caa1 from Caa3 and changed Argentina’s outlook to stable from positive. Moody’s said that the government’s release of distortive exchange controls and reduction in government spending have attracted investment and resulted in real wage increases and greater availability of credit.
        
  
      
  
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