News of economy

The Central Bank of Argentina in Buenos Aires.

Vontobel, Neuberger see opportunity in Argentina local bond rout

Yesterday 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

Yesterday 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

the week in review

Stories that caught our eye: August 1 to 8

08-08-2025 19:40 A selection of the stories that caught our eye over the last seven days in Argentina.

CONGRESS & POLITICS

Congress pushes back after Milei’s three-veto strike

08-08-2025 14:07 Responding to presidential vetoes, lawmakers pass law to increase funding for universities and declare state of emergency for paediatric healthcare in Argentina.

The Menem family with President Javier Milei.

FEATURE

Los Menem SA: How ex-president’s clan invoices the state

08-08-2025 13:54 Business dealings with the state are part of the family’s income, with the Menem clan remaining close to power. A look at controversial contracts and the "series effect."

by Rodis Recalt

Lionel Messi of Inter Miami CF celebrates scoring his team's second goal during the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 group A match between Internacional CF Miami and FC Porto at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on June 19, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia.

TRAVEL & TOURISM

Messi, Milei and Mickey Mouse are driving tourists to US

08-08-2025 11:40 Argentines are traveling in droves to the United States this year, bucking a sluggish overall trend of international tourism.

Analysis

Milei blames banks and establishment for new run on currency

07-08-2025 17:58 Argentina's government attributes the third currency run of its administration to a supposed speculative manoeuvre by local banks, big business and the establishment. For Milei, it’s a political onslaught against his economic plan.

by Carlos Burgueño

WORLD ECONOMY

Larry Summers says Trump policies are ‘scarily’ like Perón's

07-08-2025 17:28 Former US Treasury secretary Lawrence Summers compares US President Donald Trump’s policies risk to that of post-war Argentina.

A combine harvester cuts through a field of soybean plants San José de la Esquina, Argentina.

AGRICULTURE & ECONOMY

Farmers say Milei's free-market reforms fall short

07-08-2025 15:35 Rural producers maintain their support for the government but are growing impatient and demanding further reforms.

President Javier Milei and his top Cabinet officials.

POLITICS & GOVERNMENT

Cabinet wealth rankings: Werthein, Cúneo Libarona, Caputo on podium

07-08-2025 14:23 Government ministers Gerardo Werthein, Mariano Cúneo Libarona and Luis Caputo head the wealth and asset rankings of President Javier Milei’s Cabinet.

by Giselle Leclercq

WASTE MANAGEMENT

‘Cruel and ridiculous’: City Hall plan for trash-searching poor slammed

05-08-2025 18:27 Buenos Aires City Mayor Jorge Macri has instructed the Security Ministry and City Police to introduce sanctions for citizens – mostly poor – who take rubbish out of bins.

President Javier Milei, his sister Presidential Chief-of-Staff Karina Milei and Economy Minister Luis Caputo arrive at the Argentine Rural Society's expo in Buenos Aires on July 26, 2025.

GOVERNMENT & POLITICS

Milei vetoes pension increases in bid for fiscal balance

04-08-2025 17:48 President Javier Milei vetoes a law approved by Congress to increase pensions for the elderly and the disabled.

Screen grab taken from a handout video released by the Schmidt Ocean Institute and recorded by the ROV SuBastian while being commanded from the oceanographic research vessel RV Falkor (too) on July 26, 2025, displaying an octopus at 1,114 metres of depth at the Mar del Plata Canyon in the Argentine Sea, in the Atlantic Ocean about 300km off Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Patrick Star, 'Drag Queen' crab: underwater live stream captivates Argentines

03-08-2025 17:27 Hundreds of thousands of people have been are obsessed with a YouTube broadcast of a robot showing animals never before seen in the South Atlantic.

IMF DEBT PROGRAMME

IMF relaxes Argentina’s reserves target by US$5 billion in 2025

02-08-2025 19:25 IMF offers President Javier Milei's government breathing room on a key benchmark target, making it easier for the country to continue with its US$20-billion funding programme.

Work in Argentina

Driving and deliveries: Plan B for professionals and pensioners

01-08-2025 12:44 Transport and delivery platforms, linked to informal employment and not requiring a university education, are today drawing increasingly diverse profiles.

IMF DEBT PROGRAMME

IMF approves disbursement of US$2 billion for Argentina

01-08-2025 11:47 IMF executive board approves first review of loan granted in April to Argentina, enabling disbursement of some US$2 billion.

SOCIETY

Kids face food crisis: Third of children suffering serious hardships

01-08-2025 06:28 Data tracked between 2010 and 2024 shows growing food insecurity among Argentine youngsters; UCA report says it remains serious structural problem, with nearly a third suffering from lack of regular access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food.

CURRENCY WOES

Peso posts worst month since Milei’s 2023 devaluation

31-07-2025 19:35 Peso tanked by more than 12% in July – worst monthly decline since Milei devalued it in December 2023.

YPF

US judge orders Argentina’s economy minister to turn over YPF texts

30-07-2025 11:23 US District Judge Loretta Preska says plaintiffs backed by litigation funding firm Burford Capital are entitled to see messages from Economy Minister Luis Caputo and several former officials.

POLITICS

The secrets of Leonardo Scatturice, Milei’s lobbyist in Washington

29-07-2025 07:20 The murky past of the millionaire former spy behind the unchecked luggage flight. A key link between Javier Milei and Donald Trump, with ties to airline Flybondi and top presidential advisor Santiago Caputo.

by Rodis Recalt

Milei euphoric and crazed at the Derecha Fest

THE WEEK IN REVIEW

Stories that caught our eye: July 19 to 26

28-07-2025 21:01 A selection of the stories that caught our eye over the last seven days in Argentina.

Caputo, Milei, and an economic bomb in Argentina.

EDITORIAL

In whose interest is interest?

28-07-2025 15:43 Any recessive trend is unlikely to bite hard enough in the immediate term to affect the midterm results unduly but it could end up jeopardising Milei’s re-election ambitions.

Karina Milei destroys the pawns in BA province

POLITICS - ANALYSIS

Dirty politics in Buenos Aires Province and the risk of violence

28-07-2025 15:12 Libertarian coalition sparked the implosion and successive fragmentation of Argentina’s dysfunctional political system.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

At Península Valdés in Argentina’s south, a group of artisanal fishers practise a daily craft which runs counter to the voracity of extractive industry.

FEATURE

Challenging overfishing: The craft fishers of Peninsula Valdés

26-07-2025 06:02 At Península Valdés in Argentina’s south, a group of artisanal fishers practise a daily craft which runs counter to the voracity of extractive industry. From a fishing province, they are rescuing a trade requiring patience and risk in a protected area many today view as under threat. A look at it’s like to work in a North Patagonian gulf, in crystal-clear waters, where whales follow motorboats as dogs run after the wheels of a lorry.

Argentine peso banknotes in a cafe in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

MONETARY POLICY

Banks face liquidity crunch as peso yields soar

22-07-2025 17:42 Interest rates on peso notes are soaring across the board, piling pressure on banks amid a liquidity crunch caused by government efforts to defend the local currency.

IMF DEBT PROGRAMME

IMF to discuss Argentina amid US$20-billion programme’s first review

22-07-2025 17:16 International Monetary Fund to discuss first review of Argentina’s US$20-billion programme during an informal meeting between staff and executive board on Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Retailers facing problems

Number of empty shops soars in capital amid consumption woes

22-07-2025 06:56 Vacant shops up 40% in the City of Buenos Aires; In May and June, there were 238 shops for sale, for rent or closed down in the surveyed areas, according to local chamber of commerce.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Economy contracted in May for third time in 2025

21-07-2025 16:52 Argentina’s economy contracted in May for the third time this year, according to government data.

LIVING IN ARGENTINA

Boom or broke: Milei’s shake up splits nation along financial lines

21-07-2025 06:20 One half travels overseas and shops, but the other half of the country can't pay the bills – welcome to Javier Milei’s Argentina.

Another dead whale off the coast of Argentina.

the week in review

Stories that caught our eye: July 12 to 19

21-07-2025 05:45 A selection of the stories that caught our eye over the last seven days in Argentina.

An AYSA truck brings drinking water to Villa Azul in Argentina.

STATE SELL OFF

Government confirms start of AySA waterworks privatisation process

21-07-2025 05:29 President Javier Milei's government formally announces the start of the privatisation process for struggling state-owned waterworks AySA.

FEATURE

Trial in absentia – the hope of justice for AMIA bombing

20-07-2025 19:18 The case of the Jewish community centre would be the first application of this kind of trial in Argentina. How this tool against impunity works, its authors, international precedents and other possible cases, such as the crimes of the military dictatorship, to which it could be applied.

by Sabrina Chemen

ANALYSING ARGENTINA

A big win in midterms would be bad news for Milei

20-07-2025 19:05 A huge victory might encourage Milei and his team to stick to the peso appreciation which is both keeping inflation down and pleasing the upper and high-middle classes of Argentina.

by Marcelo J. García

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Moody's upgrades Argentina's long-term debt rating

20-07-2025 18:59 Moody's raises Argentina's long-term debt rating by two notches.

An oil drum owned by state energy firm YPF.

YPF NATIONALISATION CASE

Argentina says it won’t negotiate with Burford over YPF shares

20-07-2025 18:17 Argentina won’t negotiate with Burford Capital, the firm leading efforts to collect a US$16-billion judgment against the South American nation, a spokesman for President Javier Milei told reporters Friday.

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

Caputo’s ‘buy ‘em up champ’ and Milei’s ‘Epstein moment’

20-07-2025 17:32 Leonardo Scaturicce is said to have been instrumental in staffing the DGI tax office which remains under operational control of Santiago Caputo, as does the SIDE spy agency.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

PRESIDENT & THE PRESS

Milei steps up attacks on media as election nears

17-07-2025 19:14 President Javier Milei has stepped up his attacks on journalists with defamation suits and insults that analysts say are designed to bolster his image as an anti-"woke" warrior ahead of October elections.

ECONOMY – ANALYSIS

The risks of the Milei government’s economic plan

17-07-2025 10:03 Macroeconomic order and disinflation alone do not guarantee long-term sustainability.

by Luis Secco

YPF NATIONALISATION CASE

Trump backs Argentina in legal bid to suspend YPF share handover

16-07-2025 12:42 US government to file amicus brief supporting halt against Preska ruling during appeal process; Trump administration shows support for Milei government.

ANALYSIS: SHOCK THERAPY

Milei tightens grip on currency market left awash in pesos

16-07-2025 10:10 President’s economic team sends a signal to the market that it still has an iron grip on Argentina’s money supply, a key ingredient to thwarting inflation, stabilising the peso – and his high approval ratings.

YPF NATIONALISATION CASE

YPF: Appeals court halts handover of company shares for week

15-07-2025 13:29 Legal tangle surrounding the YPF case takes another turn. US appeals court suspends handover of the company’s shares for one week.

LAY-OFFS: WHERE AUSTERITY HITS

Correo Argentino, ARCA, Trenes Argentinos top redundancy rankings

15-07-2025 11:06 President Javier Milei put deregulation tsar Federico Sturzenegger in charge of cuts across state agencies. The official left almost no area untouched – among state-owned companies, Correo Argentino saw the highest number of lay-offs, with 4,945 jobs cut.

Tax policies

Milei government confirms new ‘monotributo’ ceiling

14-07-2025 22:40 The government has updated the scales of the Monotributo tax for the self-employed with the ceiling for annual invoicing moving up to 95 million pesos and new categories.

President Javier Milei poses for a photograph with his economic team.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Milei celebrates as June inflation data hints at stabilistation

14-07-2025 20:02 Inflation last month only slightly up at 1.6%, barely up on last month; Consumer prices rose 15.1% in the first half of the year, up almost 40% over the last 12 months, INDEC reveals.

Commuters board a public transit bus in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Saturday, July 12, 2025.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Monthly inflation in Argentina inches up but remains low

14-07-2025 19:49 June inflation came in at 1.6%, slightly up from May's 1.5%, which had been the lowest rate in five years, the INDEC national statistics bureau said.

Pedestrians walk past a newsstand in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on July 12, 2025.

ECONOMY – ANALYSIS

Inflation ticked up slightly last month, less than expected

14-07-2025 18:54 Inflation ticked up slightly but less than expected in June, another win for President Javier Milei ahead of midterm elections.

A truck passes a YPF SA facility in Plaza Huincul, Neuquén Province, Argentina.

ypf nationalisation case

US judge extends Argentina’s YPF handover deadline by three days

14-07-2025 13:34 New York federal judge gives Argentina until Monday a three-day extension to seek a longer delay from an appeals court in YPF nationalisation case.

ANALYSING ARGENTINA

Governors show lone-wolf Milei their teeth – will they bite?

12-07-2025 06:59 Wrestling with Argentina’s powerful provincial leaders is more likely to hinder Milei than help him achieve his goals.

by Marcelo J. García

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

Corruption claims and political miscalculations

12-07-2025 06:16 The Milei government must defend its hard-fought macroeconomic stability at all costs, at least until the election. That’s why Caputo and Milei went on the offensive, making the rounds with their typical, friendly interviewers to accuse provincial governors and the opposition at large of seeking to destabilise the government.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Number crunching as the clock ticks down.

Editorial

Fiscal surplus versus political deficit

12-07-2025 06:02 The “forces of heaven” might be on the ascendancy in recent times but what politics needs is more agnostics with a pragmatic rather than dogmatic approach.

In this aerial view members of the Argentine Naval Prefecture inspect a dead whale on the shores of the Río de la Plata river in Vicente López, Buenos Aires Province, on July 9, 2025.

THE WEEK IN REVIEW

Stories that caught our eye: July 4 to 11

11-07-2025 17:22 A selection of stories that caught our eye over the last seven days in Argentina.

Images of the suitcases arriving via private jet.

MYSTERIOUS FLIGHT IN FOCUS

The businessman, the employee, the private jet and 10 suitcases

10-07-2025 23:46 Court probe puts mystery of private jet suitcases back on agenda; Government denials of uninspected luggage from Miami queried, with CPAC-linked businessman Leonardo Scatturice and his employee Laura Belén Arrieta in spotlight.

A YPF facility in Plaza Huincul, Neuquén Province.

ypf nationalisation case

Argentina appeals US court order to hand over YPF shares

10-07-2025 19:25 Argentina has appealed a US judge's ruling ordering it to hand over 51% of the shares of the oil company YPF to settle a US$16.1 billion debt.

US President Donald Trump speaks to the press after signing an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on February 10, 2025.

WORLD ECONOMY

Trump’s Brazil tariffs risk upending trade from coffee to beef

10-07-2025 17:16 US President Donald Trump’s unexpected move to threaten a 50 percent tariff on Brazil risks roiling global commodity markets, disrupting trade on everything from beef to coffee.

$LIBRA CRYPTO SCANDAL

Report: $LIBRA-linked entrepreneur made huge crypto transfers after Milei meet

10-07-2025 14:31 Scandal into cryptocurrency scam deepens as IT expert and journalist identifies transfers – allegedly surpassing US$5 million – that were sent by businessman Hayden Davis via virtual wallets to accounts that remain unidentified, less than an hour after meeting with President Javier Milei.

A YPF storage terminal in Ushuaia, Argentina.

YPF NATIONALISATION CASE

Argentina moves to appeal US judge’s order to cede YPF stake

10-07-2025 12:41 Government gives notice it will appeal ruling requiring it to hand over controlling stake in state energy company YPF to help satisfy a US$16-billion judgement.

Crops are loaded onto a ship along the Paraná River waterway in Rosario, Argentina.

ANALYSIS: SHOCK THERAPY

Rush of farm dollars fails to lift peso ahead of vote

10-07-2025 09:37 Three months after President Javier Milei lifted Argentina’s currency controls, early investor optimism has given way to growing caution

Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, on July 9, 2025.

TRUMP'S TARIFF WAR

Trump unveils 50% Brazil levy in response to Bolsonaro trial

09-07-2025 21:22 US President Donald Trump announces 50% tariff targeting Brazil as he blasted the trial of the country's ex-leader Jair Bolsonaro.

INEQUALITY ANALYSIS

Trips to Miami or living month-to-month – Argentina’s ‘rift’ hits consumers

09-07-2025 16:34 The disparity in purchasing power in Argentina has accentuated in the past year, according to a private study. One sector travels to Miami and the other can’t make it to the end of the month. What happened?

POLLING & SURVEYS

Milei's approval rating holds as Argentines worry more about jobs

08-07-2025 15:39 Milei’s approval rating and positive image remains well above domestic peers even as Argentines became increasingly worried about the job market.

Shopping at a cash and carry in Buenos Aires.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Prices in Buenos Aires City rose 2.1 percent in June

08-07-2025 13:13 Monthly inflation picks up slightly; Housing, transport and financial services drive cost-of-living up, rising half a point from May.

CHAINSAW CUTS CONTINUE

Milei shutters agencies, looks private for roads, road safety

08-07-2025 11:31 State agencies in charge of roads and highways will be shuttered to make way for a new entity created to oversee private road construction; Several other bodies, including institutes dedicated to industrial tech, agricultural development and wine also eliminated as special delegated powers expire.

FEATURE

Santiago Caputo, Milei’s secret weapon, disrupts domestic politics

08-07-2025 10:57 Top adviser is upending Argentine politics amid rumoured tension with the President’s sister, Karina Milei, ahead of crucial midterm vote.

ICONIC CITY VENUE

Luna Park redevelopment plan unveiled with 2027 target

07-07-2025 14:51 DF Entertainment and Live Nation announce plan to renovate iconic Buenos Aires venue; Late 2027 target for reopening; More than 150 shows a year planned, historic façade preserved.

Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva speaks during a plenary session of the BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on July 7, 2025. BRICS leaders at a summit on Sunday took aim at US President Donald Trump's "indiscriminate" import tariffs and recent Israeli-US strikes on Iran.

TRADE WAR

BRICS criticism brings Trump 10% tariff threat

07-07-2025 14:00 BRICS leaders describe Trump's stop-start tariff wars as "indiscriminate", damaging, and illegal, drawing a quick rebuke from the pugilistic US president.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Argentina's President Javier Milei wave on the balcony of the Casa Rosada government palace after a meeting in Buenos Aires, on July 5, 2025.

FOREIGN POLICY

Modi and Milei vow to boost trade after Casa Rosada talks

06-07-2025 09:15 Indian PM Narendra Modi, leader of the world's fifth-largest economy, vows to expand and diversify trade Argentina before heading to Brazil to attend the BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro.