News of economy

Pulp maker blames Milei as it seeks bankruptcy protection

Yesterday 18:43 Pulp and paper manufacturer Celulosa Argentina SA files for bankruptcy protection, blaming "deep changes that the national government has implemented in fiscal, monetary and currency policy."

Argentina's President Javier Milei, Uruguay's President Luis Lacalle Pou, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Paraguay's President Santiago Peña pose for the family picture of the LXV Mercosur Summit in Montevideo on December 6, 2024.

EU-MERCOSUR TRADE DEAL

EU to present Mercosur trade deal for member state approval

Yesterday 13:40 Deal is backed by a wide majority of EU countries keen to diversify trade away from the United States, but France remains staunchly opposed.

Defence Minister Luis Petri on a visit to Navy headquarters.

MILITARY & DEFENCE

Crisis in Argentina’s Armed Forces as poor salaries lead to exodus

30-08-2025 07:58 Some 2,200 members of the Armed Forces have resigned this year. The Navy has been hardest hit, with some receiving monthly pay-cheques below 600,000 pesos.

Milei siblings got that sinking feeling.

Analysing Argentina

Forget about October, what matters is the day after

30-08-2025 06:59 After the elections, Milei will not have the benefit of the doubt anymore. Expectations will be higher, just as reality might get tougher.

by Marcelo J. García

As I see it

Dark clouds line the horizon

30-08-2025 06:52 Millions who voted for Milei less than two years ago may have assumed that he would immediately replace the old political class but, needless to say, that was a pipe dream.

by James Neilson

Who's listening to the bribery scandal audios?

EDITORIAL

Audios rather more than hearsay

30-08-2025 06:37 No room for innocence where squeezing kickbacks out of the medicine for around a million disabled people is concerned – arguably the most vulnerable sector of society.

An anti-government protester holds a banner against Argentina's President Javier Milei next to supporters of the ruling La Libertad Avanza party as she protests during a motorcade led by Milei in Lomas de Zamora, Buenos Aires Province, on August 27, 2025

THE WEEK IN REIVEW

Stories that caught our eye: August 22 to 29

29-08-2025 17:06 A selection of the stories that caught our eye over the last seven days in Argentina.

The Central Bank of Argentina in Buenos Aires.

MONETARY POLICY

Argentina again tightens FX rules for banks as peso strengthens

29-08-2025 13:33 Argentina increases foreign-currency restrictions for commercial lenders yet again as part of effort to support the peso and ease inflation.

Javier Milei and Karina Milei on the campaign trail in Lomas de Zamora.

ABOUT THE BRIBERY SCANDAL

Explainer: What to know about ANDIS audio scandal

28-08-2025 16:52 Burgeoning corruption scandal prompted by leaked audio recordings linking Karina Milei and other top officials to corrupt practices in the purchases of medicine for disabled people.

Protesters throw stones at President Javier Milei, his sister, Presidential Chief-of-Staff Karina Milei (unseen), La Libertad Avanza's candidate for national deputy in Buenos Aires Province, José Luis Espert, and other officials and candidates during a motorcade in Lomas de Zamora, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, on August 27, 2025.

POLITICS

Milei calls bribery scandal a lie after facing ‘rain of rocks’

28-08-2025 16:22 “This week’s operation is nothing more than another item on the long list of tricks by the caste and, like all the previous ones, just another lie,” declares President in speech to business leaders.

A worker walks between two industrial evaporation pools at a lithium production facility in the Uyuni Salt Flats in Potosí, Bolivia.

Lithium in Latin America

Untapped lithium riches are in crosshairs of Bolivian candidate

28-08-2025 15:08 Jorge 'Tuto' Quiroga’s approach to lithium is much more dramatic than his centrist opponent Rodrigo Paz, who has vowed to seek consensus with local communities and regions.

View of vandalised political propaganda from the ruling La Libertad Avanza party in Lomas de Zamora, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina on August 27, 2025.

BUSINESS & INVESTMENT

Alarm bell ring for investors amid graft scandal claims

28-08-2025 11:55 Members of so-called ‘círculo rojo’ business establishment concerned by possible consequences of recent scandal, which could slow desired influx of investment. What the top businessmen who defend the economic plan think about the future.

by Ariel Maciel

MONETARY POLICY

Argentina rolls over debt in relief for battered currency

27-08-2025 21:48 Government successfully rolls over large batch of local debt in auction; Milei administration has tightened monetary policy in past few weeks to defend peso.

José Luis Espert, Javier Milei, Karina Milei.

politics

President unhurt after being attacked in Lomas de Zamora

27-08-2025 17:02 Security guards acted quickly to shield the group and the convoy was diverted before reaching its destination.

HUMAN RIGHTS

How Milei took unaudited disabled people’s benefits away

27-08-2025 17:00 There has been a structural failure in the mass cutting of benefits for disabled people – Argentina's government they sent over 850,000 registered letters to audit beneficiaries, but nearly half of them never made it. Getting them reinstated is a near impossible task.

by Agustina Bordigoni

Argentina celebrate winning the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Chainsaw hits football

Fútbol para pocos: Milei decides 2026 World Cup won’t be on public TV

27-08-2025 13:45 For the first time in 52 years, Argentina’s government has confirmed that it will not be buying the broadcasting rights to the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada and broadcasting it free-to-air. The move – which saves an estimated US$7 million – forms part of austerity for state media.

Men repair a disused computer during the 3rd Federal Cyberciruja Meeting in Buenos Aires, on August 16, 2025. Cybercirujas, a collective of Argentine hacktivists, recycle electronic devices to challenge planned obsolescence and the logic of the “computing oligarchy.”

FEATURE

'Old things work': Tech collective gives new life to e-waste

27-08-2025 11:47 Meet the 'Cybercirujas,' a group of Argentine hacktivists who recycle electronic devices to challenge obsolescence and electronic waste.

MONETARY POLICY

Milei digs in to defend peso before midterm elections

27-08-2025 11:16 President Javier Milei is ratcheting up his defence of Argentina’s currency ahead of another massive local debt auction.

RIGI INVESTMENT INCENTIVE SCHEME

One year in, RIGI investor incentive scheme fails to take off

27-08-2025 09:18 One of President Javier Milei’s flagship policies, the RIGI incentive scheme for large investors, is not taking off – one year on from its launch, three projects have imported a mere US$26 million. Seven initiatives have been approved with 11 others pending and a Chinese rejection.

by Gonzalo Martínez

Workers at a Playadito yerba mate packaging plant in Colonia Liebig.

FEATURE

Yerba mate farmers feel the pinch as Milei ends price controls

26-08-2025 17:31 For decades, yerba mate farmers benefited from state intervention. Now, under President Javier Milei, many growers are struggling to survive.

AGRICULTURE & LIVESTOCK

Chile suspends poultry imports from Argentina over bird flu

26-08-2025 12:19 Chile suspended poultry imports from Argentina on Monday after detecting an outbreak of avian influenza.

Mercosur leaders and invited guests: (Left to right, back row) Ecuador's Vice-President María José Pinto, Panama's President José Raúl Mulino, and Chile's Foreign Minister Alberto van Klaveren; (Left to right, front row) Paraguay's President Santiago Peña, Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Argentina's President Javier Milei, Bolivia's President Luis Arce Catacora and Uruguay's President Yamandú Orsi, wave as they pose for the family photo during the 66th Summit of Leaders of Mercosur and Associated States at the Palacio San Martín in Buenos Aires.

TRADE & COMMERCE

Mercosur and Canada to resume talks over free-trade agreement

26-08-2025 10:26 Amid trade tensions sparked by Donald Trump's tariff war, Mercosur and Canada are set to resume negotiations on a free-trade agreement.

ECONOMIC POLICY

Argentina boosts its scrutiny of repo loans as peso slides

26-08-2025 10:10 Argentine authorities step up scrutiny of investor activity in repo loans, short-term financial instruments that have seen interest rates touch record highs amid a liquidity crunch at banks.

The Menem family with President Javier Milei.

POLITICS

'Lule' Menem: ANDIS graft scandal is ‘blatant Kirchnerite operation’

25-08-2025 17:55 Eduardo 'Lule' Menem, undersecretary of Institutional Management, says corruption allegations involving ANDIS national disability agency are fabricated; Official from historic political family was named in audio recordings believed to feature the voice of Diego Spagnuolo discussing kickbacks scheme.

Fencing in front of the Casa Rosada presidential palace in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

ANALYSIS

Milei team tries to stem bribery scandal as bonds and peso sink

25-08-2025 13:42 President Javier Milei’s top officials moved to contain fall-out from bribery allegations against an ally that are weighing on Argentina’s dollar bonds.

EDITORIAL

Veto swings and roundabouts

23-08-2025 07:04 The best way for Milei to defend his cherished fiscal surplus would not be knee-jerk vetoes but to present a budget – something which will require thinking outside the box and not just the chainsaw.

Analysing Argentina

How can the new centrists kill polarisation?

23-08-2025 07:01 The centre might be the only viable solution for a country like Argentina, but who would vote for a dull, rationality-driven politician when you have the angry mob?

by Marcelo J. García

POLITICS & CORRUPTION

Greedy and corrupt libertarians?

23-08-2025 06:15 Smear campaign tactics are a defining characteristic of the Argentine political ecosystem during the electoral season. Corruption has risen as a preoccupation for everyday citizens, but it is still the economy that will determine whether or not Milei is successful.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

POLITICS

Milei adds a corruption scandal to his mounting list of woes

22-08-2025 22:59 Reeling from a week of political, economic and financial setbacks, President Javier Milei now faces a fresh corruption scandal reportedly linked to his sister.

Karina Milei, Diego Spagnuolo and Javier Milei.

POLITICS & CORRUPTION

Probe into alleged corruption at disability agency implicates Milei’s sister

22-08-2025 17:41 Raids carried out to gather evidence in an investigation into an alleged corruption case at the ANDIS national disability agency that implicates, among others, President Javier Milei's sister.

POLITICS & CORRUPTION

Disabled agency chief sacked after audio corruption claims

22-08-2025 12:08 Milei government announces it has placed ANDIS state agency for disabled under trusteeship and it will face audit; Chief Diego Spagnuolo sacked after leaked recordings allegedly featuring his voice claim shady deals with drug-suppliers involve Menem family and Karina Milei.

Carlos Alberto ‘Charly’ García, 73, was awarded a doctorate Honoris Causa by the University of Buenos Aires (UBA)

THE WEEK IN REVIEW

Stories that caught our eye: August 15 to 22

22-08-2025 11:05 A selection of the stories that caught our eye over the last seven days in Argentina.

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

Milei comes out swinging as setbacks pile up before key vote

21-08-2025 18:09 President Javier Milei suffers rapid-fire political, economic and financial setbacks as his most daunting electoral test yet draws near.

"This is Ariel García Furfaro, owner of the contaminated fentanyl laboratory," posted National Security Minister Patricia Bullrich on social media, along with this image.

CONTAMINATED DRUG SCANDAL

Lab owner, executives at heart of contaminated fentanyl scandal arrested

21-08-2025 00:31 Businessman Ariel García Furfaro, his brothers, mother and management team of HLB Pharma laboratory at centre of contaminated fentanyl scandal arrested in connection with the investigation into 96 deaths.

The Chamber of Deputies at the National Congress in Buenos Aires in 2024.

POLITICS & CONGRESS

Milei’s veto of pension increase survives congressional vote

20-08-2025 23:46 Bill Milei vetoed would have boosted pension payments and risked the libertarian government’s budget surplus, highly prized by investors

Shoppers in a supermarket in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Economy extends downturn in June before midterms

20-08-2025 23:12 Economic activity fell 0.7% from May, below economists’ estimates for a 0.2% dip.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Economic activity dropped 0.7% month-on-month in June

20-08-2025 18:30 Second monthly decline so far this year, but economic activity up 6.4% year-on-year, driven by financial services, wholesale, retail and repairs.

JOB MARKET

More than 220,000 formal jobs lost so far in Milei era

20-08-2025 17:27 CEPA data reveals 220,000 payroll jobs and more than 15,000 employers have disappeared in 18 months, with construction and transport hit hardest; Growth in self-employment masking formal job losses.

by Martín Fernández Nadale

Deputies attend a session at the National Congress in Buenos Aires on August 20, 2025, to debate President Javier Milei's veto of bills to raise pensions and declare a disability emergency.

POLITICS & CONGRESS

Lower house rejects Milei's veto of disability emergency law

20-08-2025 16:59 Lawmakers reject presidential veto of disability law by 172 votes to 73, securing two-thirds majority needed to uphold the law previously approved by Congress.

Shoppers at a supermarket in Buenos Aires, July 2023.

CONSUMER PRICES

Cost of full shopping trolley up to 11% more expensive in south

20-08-2025 11:05 Breakdown of consumer prices undertaken by the Analytica consultancy firm showed that food is at its most expensive in Patagonia.

The headquarters of Banco Galicia in Argentina in the financial district of Buenos Aires.

BANKING & FINANCE

Milei clashes with top banks amid Argentina’s liquidity squeeze

20-08-2025 08:35 Liquidity measures have stoked tensions between the government and the country’s banks; Discontent became evident during a meeting.

A HSBC Holdings Plc office building stands above the Paseo del Bajo underground highway project under construction in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Friday, April 12, 2019.

REMOTE, HYBRID OR IN-OFFICE?

Half of Argentine workers prefer hybrid model, survey shows

18-08-2025 17:25 Given the choice, a majority of workers in Argentina would prefer a model of two days remote, three days in office – but in reality just 17% are not required to attend their workplace full-time.

Molten copper is cast into copper anodes in a furnace at the Glencore Canadian Copper Refinery (CCR) in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on Tuesday, August 12, 2025.

RIGI INVESTMENT BOOST

Glencore seeks incentives for US$13-billion copper mining projects

18-08-2025 16:46 Switzerland-based commodities firm Glencore files applications to have two copper projects with combined capital expenditure estimated at more than US$13 billion included in RIGI investment incentive scheme.

An indigenous voter casts her ballot at a polling station during the presidential election in La Paz on August 17.

BOLIVIAN ELECTION 2025

Voters end two decades of socialist rule in Bolivia

18-08-2025 12:52 Voters sent two pro-business candidates to Bolivia’s presidential election run-off, ending two decades of almost-uninterrupted socialist rule.

The premises of Jumbo and Easy in Palermo.

REAL ESTATE

Farewell 'Portal Palermo'?: Milei set to sell off top Buenos Aires real estate

17-08-2025 16:16 State plans to auction off 42,000 square metres in prime Palermo where two consumer giants, Jumbo and Easy, currently operate. Firms have been served notice.

A YPF SA gas station in the Parque Chas neighbourhood of Buenos Aires.

YPF NATIONALISATION CASE

Argentina wins stay on YPF share transfer in US court battle

17-08-2025 08:59 Appeals court halts order to hand over 51% of shares in state energy firm as Argentina fights US$16.1-billion ruling in nationalisation case.

A YPF SA storage terminal in Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina.

YPF NATIONALISATION CASE

Argentina wins reprieve in US court fight over YPF shares

16-08-2025 08:30 Appeals court rules Argentina doesn’t need to turn over its controlling stake in YPF SA to holders of a US$16-billion judgment while it tries to overturn previous order.

Editorial

Through a (bionic) glass darkly

16-08-2025 06:47 Are universities wholly to blame for educational and cultural deficits long preceding entry into institutions of higher learning?

Campaign comments

Jousting in the lists

16-08-2025 06:30 In broad terms, President Javier Milei’s La Libertad Avanza will be flying solo in half the country whereas Peronism is presenting a united front in three-quarters of the districts, including all the most important except Córdoba.

by Michael Soltys

As I see it

Why Milei refuses to budge an inch

16-08-2025 06:11 Like “the Iron Lady,” late British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, whom he admires, Milei lets it be known that he is not for turning.

by James Neilson

A supporter of ex-president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner demonstrates at the weekly pensioners protest outside Congress in Buenos Aires.

THE WEEK IN REVIEW

Stories that caught our eye: August 8 to 15

15-08-2025 16:51 A selection of the stories that caught our eye over the last seven days in Argentina.

FRIENDSHIP, BUSINESS & POLITICS

Donation to Milei's party triggers scrutiny of Santiago Caputo’s employer

15-08-2025 13:20 Lucas Costa is one of the partners at Zefico SA, the company where top presidential adviser Santiago Caputo is the sole employee. The firm was reported to the Unidad de Información Financiera (UIF) two weeks, after the businessman transferred some three million pesos to La Libertad Avanza’s campaign in Formosa.

by Giselle Leclercq

CURRENCY TURBULENCE

Peso gains as authorities ease hit of debt auction

14-08-2025 17:17 Argentina’s peso strengthened Thursday as authorities announced they will raise reserve requirements for banks.

Politics & public works

Seventeen years on, Sarmiento super-tunnel project canned

13-08-2025 23:42 After 17 years and with US$420 million of kit left underground, the Sarmiento underpass has been abandoned with its entrance sealed off, reports journalist Diego Cabot, after the firms in charge of the project and President Javier Milei’s government decided to pull the plug.

BONDS & MARKETS

Argentina rolls over 61% in peso debt auction, yields soar

13-08-2025 20:00 Local debt auction falls short of market expectations as President Javier Milei’s administration rolls over just 61% of maturities in a key auction that analysts said may prompt a drop in the peso.

Shoppers browse products in a supermarket in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

ANALYSIS

Inflation posts mild acceleration after policy stumble

13-08-2025 16:49 Monthly inflation picked up some momentum last month as regulated price hikes collided with a peso overhang that sparked the currency’s worst month since 2023.

A woman buys beef at a supermarket in Buenos Aires on August 8, 2025.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Consumer prices rose 1.9% in July, reports INDEC

13-08-2025 16:14 Inflation of 17.3% since the turn of year, reaching 36.6% over the last 12 months; Positive signs for Milei administration heading into crunch midterms.

On July 5, 2025, President Milei travelled to Chaco to inaugurate Portal del Cielo, the largest evangelical church in the country led by Pentecostal pastor Jorge Ledesma.

POLITICS & RELIGION

Milei finds heavenly ally in evangelism

12-08-2025 17:48 Politics, religion and business. A decree issued by President Javier Milei recognises evangelical churches as legal entities – a key change its leaders have been seeking for three decades.

by Juan Luis González

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Exports to China down 15% year-on-year in first half of 2025

12-08-2025 17:06 Trade deficit with Asian giant is largest among Argentina's leading trading partners; it rose to US$5.227 billion during the first six months of this year.

by Agustina Bordigoni

A currency exchange house in Buenos Aires on April 14, after Javier Milei eased currency controls in Argentina.

Corporate defaults

Milei’s FX reforms spur worst corporate default wave since 2020

12-08-2025 15:21 Javier Milei’s reforms are fuelling the worst streak of corporate defaults since the pandemic.

Brazil's Ambassador in Argentina Julio Bitelli.

Interview

Julio Bitelli: ‘I don’t rule out a Milei-Lula bilateral meeting’

12-08-2025 14:19 Brazil's Ambassador in Argentina Julio Bitelli discusses bilateral relations, commercial ties and whether the leaders of the two presidents will ever meet.

by Pablo Varela

MARKETS

Argentina’s peso debt yields soar to record ahead of key auction

12-08-2025 10:59 Sharp increase in borrowing costs comes as the government prepares for a peso debt auction Wednesday when it will attempt to roll over around US$17.4 billion in maturities, equal to about a third of all the money circulating in the economy.

WORLD ECONOMY

Xi takes aim at US ‘protectionism’ in phone call with Lula

12-08-2025 10:56 Brazil President Lula and Chinese leader Xi Jinping agreed on “upholding multilateralism” through the Group of 20 and BRICS.

POLITICS

Documents reveal links between Scatturice, Milei’s man in US, and media mogul Hadad

11-08-2025 18:05 Investigation by lawyer and commentator Natalia Volosin digs up documents attesting to the link between Flybondi owner Leonardo Scatturice and ‘Infobae’ boss Daniel Hadad, in addition to the million-dollar contracts with the state.

BONDS & MARKETS

Vontobel, Neuberger see opportunity in Argentina local bond rout

11-08-2025 15:44 Money managers are piling into Argentina’s local markets, seizing on the steep sell-off in the peso and domestic bonds.

A farmworker harvests soybeans in Pace, Mississippi, United States, on Thursday, October 7, 2021.

Agriculture

Trump urges China to quadruple US soy buying, lifting prices

11-08-2025 08:52 Donald Trump says he hopes China will massively step up its purchases of US soybeans.

People with disabilities, their families, and healthcare workers protest against Argentine President Javier Milei's veto of a law that would have increased retirement and disability pensions outside Congress in Buenos Aires on August 5, 2025.

POLITICS

Milei seeks to retake initiative with vetoes after Congress pushback

09-08-2025 21:43 President threatens jail for budget offenders, accuses rivals of “genocide” and signals possible court fight over laws passed in a string of congressional defeats.

by Pablo Varela

This screen grab taken on August 8, 2025, from an official government TV broadcast shows Argentina's President Javier Milei delivering a nationwide broadcast.

NATIONWIDE BROADCAST

Milei vows ban on funding public spending with monetary issuance

09-08-2025 11:36 President puts emphasis on fiscal discipline measures in national broadcast, pairing a ban on monetary financing with plans to punish lawmakers for approving deficit budgets.

Analysing Argentina

The (wrong?) assumption that energy and mining will save Argentina

09-08-2025 06:35 President Javier Milei’s economic programme relies heavily on the prospects of Argentina massively increasing its exports in the coming years. But projections work better on paper than in reality.

by Marcelo J. García

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

Civil war in the ‘iron triangle’ and the Scatturice ordeal

09-08-2025 06:34 A little less than three months out from the election, it is getting tense for the Milei administration and the country in general. The President is placing his political project on the line, knowing that he needs to deliver electorally if he wants to keep his re-election dreams alive.

by Agustino Fontevecchia