News of economy

Lundin Mining reveals largest copper find in 30 years in Argentina

Today 17:27 BHP Group’s joint-venture partner Lundin Mining Corp declares companies’ Filo del Sol project in South America to be the largest discovery of copper in three decades.

NEW ECONOMIC MEASURES

Caputo: Argentines should spend dollars without 'explanations'

Today 15:31 Argentina’s Economy Minister Luis Caputo calls for “cultural shift” in which citizens should be able to spend dollars without “having to provide explanations” over what they buy or origin of funds; Government to introduce measures to facilitate circulation of greenbacks.

Javier Milei during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland, on February 22.

TRADE TALKS

US official quietly visits capital as Argentina pushes for tariff exemptions

Today 15:06 Senior US trade envoy quietly visits Buenos Aires as Argentina’s pushes for exemptions to Donald Trump’s import tariffs.

Editorial

Will April showers bring May flowers?

03-05-2025 07:45 Critics of the exit from the ‘cepo’ currency and capital controls argue that it opens the door to speculative peso-dollar shuffles. Whether or not they are right will go much further towards defining the outcome of the October midterms than any cultural battles.

ANALYSING ARGENTINA

Milei’s Macri mirror

03-05-2025 07:14 Javier Milei and Luis Caputo want the economy to be booming when the country goes to vote in October. The question is how much it will cost them – and the country.

by Marcelo J. García

As I see it

When the machines stop working

03-05-2025 07:00 A growing proportion of decisions that affect people will be made by artefacts that can be hacked either by individuals working for hostile regimes, religious zealots who disapprove of Western ways or mere mischief-makers who get a kick out of provoking turmoil.

by James Neilson

Anti-IMF and anti-Milei protesters during a CGT rally in Buenos Aires on April 30, 2025.

the week in review

Stories that caught our eye: April 25 to May 1

01-05-2025 17:00 Our (almost a weekly) round-up of what you need to know about Argentina.

City elections 2025: candidates for the legislature.

CAMPAIGN COMMENTS

The great debate

01-05-2025 09:39 The absurd multiplicity of 17 list-heading candidates for 30 City Legislature seats can be boiled down into a triangle of the PRO, libertarian and Peronist blocs, although this does not necessarily translate into only three candidates since others stand to make inroads.

by Michael Soltys

Bolivia's former president Evo Morales speaks during an AFP interview in the coca-growing zone of Lauca Ene, Bolivia, on April 28, 2025.

latin america

Evo Morales vows no surrender in bid to reclaim Bolivian presidency

01-05-2025 09:31 Bolivia's first Indigenous president plans to formally launch a bid for a fourth term, despite being barred from running again.

President Javier Milei and Chinese Premier Xi Jinping.

ARGENTINA-CHINA RELATIONS

Chinese business interests await gesture from Milei towards Xi

01-05-2025 09:18 Over-enthusiasm for the United States has damaged links with China, hampering political moves towards investment and trade agreements. A presidential trip to the Asian power is the key to smoothing the acrimony.

by Eugenia Muzio

GUEST COLUMN

Batakis: IMF betting on Milei because his failure would also be theirs

01-05-2025 07:42 This is a “political loan,” if not to say a campaign contribution, as in 2018.

Argentina's President Javier Milei speaks during the EFI 2025 Economic Forum in Buenos Aires, on April 30, 2025.

NEW MEASURES

Argentina eliminates export duties for thousands of manufactured goods

30-04-2025 21:34 President Javier Milei's government eliminates export duties for thousands of industrial products; Economy Minister Luis Caputo says tax levy was "affecting competitiveness" in announcement hailing the move.

A banner from the General Confederation of Labour (CGT) umbrella union grouping is displayed by workers during a rally against the government of President Javier Milei and to commemorate May Day (Labour Day) in Buenos Aires on April 30, 2025. Argentina's labor unions mobilized on Wednesday on the eve of Workers' Day with slogans against the austerity measures of President Javier Milei.

POLITICS & LABOUR

Milei sets end of inflation timeline amid union unrest

30-04-2025 21:13 CGT stages pre-May Day march to reject austerity policies; President Milei declares his government “best in history,” vows end to inflation by mid-2026.

An Aerolíneas Argentinas aircraft departs Jorge Newbery Airport in Buenos Aires City.

STATE CARRIER

Aerolíneas Argentinas won’t be subsidised for first time since 2008

30-04-2025 16:48 Flagship airline Aerolíneas Argentinas won’t need state subsidies for the first time since the government nationalised the company almost two decades ago.

Candidates for 2025 elections for the Buenos Aires City Legislature – the debate.

ELECTIONS 2025: BUENOS AIRES CITY

Fragmented field means little debate in City debate

30-04-2025 15:54 Seventeen candidates standing in Buenos Aires City Legislature elections on May 18; Debate delivers insults and crossed words, but little in the way of policy.

A worker uses a counting machine for US$100 US banknotes at a currency exchange house in Buenos Aires.

ANALYSIS: SHOCK THERAPY

Savers buying up dollars after Milei lifts currency controls

30-04-2025 12:08 Savers are going back to the bank to buy dollars after President Javier Milei granted them complete freedom to do so.

MINING & INDUSTRY

McEwen weighs Argentina share listing as part of copper unit IPO

30-04-2025 11:53 McEwen Copper is planning an IPO in New York or Toronto to help fund construction of its Los Azules project in San Juan Province.

Cabinet Chief Guillermo Francos appears before the lower house Chamber of Deputies to answer questions.

'CRYPTOGATE' SCANDAL

Francos faces Congress grilling over Milei’s links to '$LIBRA' scam

29-04-2025 23:50 Cabinet Chief Guillermo Francos says President Milei “does not and did not maintain any link with the” '$LIBRA' crypto scam in lengthy session before lawmakers.

Argentina's government has announced that a crisis committee has been set up to send federal forces to the central city of Rosario following a request from Santa Fe Province Governor Maximiliano Pullaro to confront drug trafficking and drug violence.

CRIME & SECURITY

Organised crime hampering growth in Latin America, warns World Bank

29-04-2025 11:58 Organised crime in Latin America and the Caribbean is holding back economic growth, World Bank report warns.

Geopolitcs & trade

Xi is trying to turn world against US as Trump cuts trade deals

29-04-2025 11:03 Beijing officials are racing to turn foreign governments against the United States inside a 90-day window Trump has granted all nations — except China — to strike trade deals during a tariff reprieve.

GUEST COLUMN

Truth or dare? Tariffs or closure of economies

28-04-2025 15:43 Confusing an algebraic exercise of hypothetical theoretical equilibrium by transforming it into economic policy can only occur in a poorly prepared mind, or perhaps one trapped in a swarm of cognitive biases.

by Martín A. Morgenstern

POLITICS & ECONOMY

Kicillof demands IMF probe into Georgieva's pro-Milei comments

28-04-2025 15:08 Buenos Aires Province governor and socialist lawmakers call for investigation after IMF chief’s controversial remarks that seemed to back Milei administration ahead of Argentina’s midterms.

Archbishop of Buenos Aires Jorge García Cuerva and Vice-President Victoria Villarruel, during tributes to Pope Francis in the capital this week.

STATE & RELIGION

Church, Milei government play nice despite tensions, distrust

27-04-2025 20:35 Death of Pope Francis shines a spotlight on the relationship between Argentina’s religious leaders, the clergy and President Javier Milei’s government.

by Juan Pablo Kavanagh

Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the late Pope Francis.

OBITUARY: POPE FRANCIS (1936-2025)

The Pope from the 'ends of the earth' called to 'repair' the Church

26-04-2025 05:00 Jorge Bergoglio enters history as the first American Pope. During his time heading the Catholic Church, he reformed Vatican governance, pushed for peace and reconciliation and guided the Church through some of the darkest moments in recent years, taking measures against child abuse by members of the clergy.

by Darío Silva D'Andrea

Pope Francis and Argentina's recent presidents.

Analysing Argentina

The shepherd who lost his country

26-04-2025 05:00 Argentina electing Milei, just as an Argentine was running the Vatican on a unifying message, is as if John Paul II had seen his Polish compatriots vote for a version of Joseph Stalin, rather than Lech Wałęsa.

by Marcelo J. García

Faithful attend an interfaith mass for the late Pope Francis at Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral on April 22, 2025, a day after his death. The Argentine pontiff, 88, died on April 21 after a stroke, less than a month after returning home from five weeks in the hospital battling double pneumonia, and his funeral will be held on April 26, the Vatican announced.

THE WEEK IN REIVEW

Stories that caught our eye: April 17 to 24

25-04-2025 16:16 A selection of stories that caught our eye over the last seven days in Argentina.

Buenos Aires Province Governor Axel Kicillof.

POLITICS & ECONOMY

Peronist leaders accuse IMF chief of publicly backing Milei

25-04-2025 14:37 Axel Kicillof and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner accuse IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva of publicly backing President Javier Milei's government ahead of key elections.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent ahead of an interview in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on April 14.

BLOOMBERG REPORT

Loan to Trump-friendly Argentina went against IMF board concerns

25-04-2025 11:23 Argentina's new loan with the International Monetary Fund was granted despite raising red flags for many of the lender's top decision-markers.

JP Morgan Chase & Co signage at the company's offices in New York, US, on Thursday, September 19, 2024.

ENERGY & GAS

JPMorgan, Citi among banks in talks for Argentina pipeline loan

25-04-2025 11:14 Money would fund Vaca Muerta Sur, featuring a pipeline running from Argentina’s shale heartland across northern Patagonia to the Atlantic coast.

Feria Internacional del Libro de Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires Book Fair returns with Middle East tint

24-04-2025 18:34 Forty-ninth edition of Feria Internacional del Libro de Buenos Aires returns to La Rural, running until May 12.

by Julia Malyszko

Kristalina Georgieva, International Monteary Fund (IMF) managing director.

IMF SUPPORT FOR MILEI

Georgieva urges Argentina to ‘stay the course’ with economic reforms

24-04-2025 15:43 IMF holds firm on 5.5% growth forecast despite global risks and trade uncertainty.

CURRENCY, FX POLICY

Peso will float freely, but it’s not yet time, says Bausili

24-04-2025 10:24 Argentina’s exchange rate will be fully liberalised “in time,” says Central Bank Governor Santiago Bausili at event in Washington.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Economy grew more than expected in February

23-04-2025 22:47 Economic activity rose 5.7% in February year-on-year, reveals data from the INDEC national statistics bureau.

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

ANALYSIS: SHOCK THERAPY

Milei defies forecasts so far as Argentina’s peso strengthens

23-04-2025 22:41 Analysts see a stronger peso over the next few months with traders buying into President Javier Milei's plan.

The B3 stock exchange in São Paulo, Brazil.

Supply lines

Latin America is master of its markets, not Trump, Bradesco says

23-04-2025 22:34 Outlook for Latin American shares depends more on local elections and fiscal and monetary policy than it does Donald Trump’s tariff war.

Carlos Fernández, Paraguay finance minister.

SUPPLY LINES

Mercosur shields Paraguay from Trump tariff pain, says finance chief

23-04-2025 22:29 Membership in one of the world’s most protectionist trade blocs will help shield Paraguay from the worst of near-term disruptions caused by US tariffs.

ENERGY & GAS

Governors seek Vaca Muerta investments at Texas energy summit

23-04-2025 11:12 Leaders from four provinces in Argentina – Río Negro, Neuquén, Mendoza and Córdoba – aim to showcase their competitiveness to the global oil elite in Texas at the Offshore Technology Conference.

by Eugenia Muzio

Ranchers load feed pens for cattle on a farm in Maraba, Brazil.

AGRICULTURE & LIVESTOCK

From meat to grains, trade war is a boon to Brazil and Argentina

22-04-2025 14:38 Escalating tensions between the United States and China have created an opening for Brazil and Argentina to ramp up exports.

FINANCING BOOST?

Bessent signals US willingness to offer Argentina a credit line

22-04-2025 14:34 US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says Trump administration would be willing to offer Argentina’s government a credit line if President Javier Milei’s economic turnaround was in jeopardy.

Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the IMF.

ECONOMIC OUTLOOK

IMF holds firm on Argentina growth forecast despite global uncertainty

22-04-2025 12:35 Washington-based lender cites early 2025 economic rebound and rising confidence amid broader warnings over global slowdown.

Nur Azman Rahim, Ambassador of Malaysia to Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.

GUEST COLUMN

Malaysia’s capital control (cepo) success – a journey beginning in Buenos Aires

19-04-2025 06:03 Malaysia’s success highlights the importance of policy credibility, clarity of purpose and exit strategy in the use of capital controls.

Milei and the International Monetary Fund.

POLITICS & ECONOMY – ANALYSIS

Milei dreams of re-election – with IMF's help

19-04-2025 06:00 Whether signing an IMF deal represents a “day of liberation” or one of mourning, it lifts a cloud of uncertainty and allows the political ecosystem to focus on upcoming elections.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Analysing Argentina

Milei and the bicycle temptation

19-04-2025 06:00 The Milei government is confident it can make it to the midterm elections in October without major volatility. But this relative calm — won by force of debt — should not obscure the storm that was brewing before the cash injection.

by Marcelo J. García

Editorial

Floating on air?

19-04-2025 06:00 Milei might echo Alfonsín by proclaiming: “Happy Easter, the dollar is in order” but early days – a more total exit from currency and capital controls by Macri in in late 2015 was even smoother, without ensuring him a happy ending.

A demonstrator gestures as he is being arrested by members of the Argentine Federal Police during a protest called by retirees demanding an increase in pensions and against economic adjustment by the government of President Javier Milei in front of the National Congress in Buenos Aires on April 16, 2025.

the week in review

Stories that caught our eye: April 11 to 18

18-04-2025 17:29 A selection of the stories that caught our eye over the last seven days in Argentina – including some pretty big announcements last Friday...

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Award-winning biologist slams Milei’s defunding of science

18-04-2025 00:31 Scientist Sandra Díaz has voiced criticism of President Javier Milei's government and its defunding of scientific research in Argentina.

European Union and Mercosur member nation flags.

EU-MERCOSUR TRADE DEAL

EU hopes Trump tariffs can nudge Mercosur deal past finish line

17-04-2025 09:10 Spectre of transatlantic trade war is fuelling hopes of a silver lining in Europe: that the long-awaited EU-Mercorur free-trade deal could get a final green light.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

What was the exchange rate when Milei came into office?

16-04-2025 16:10 Official exchange rate almost doubled from near 400 pesos to 838 pesos per greenback in the initial four days after Milei’s inauguration – now it stands closer to 1,200.

Picture released by the Presidency press office shows US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaking next to Argentina's President Javier Milei during a joint statement at the Casa Rosada in Buenos Aires on April 14, 2025.

RELATIONS WITH WASHINGTON

US Treasury secretary makes flying visit – with no extra dollars

16-04-2025 14:52 Behind the scenes of US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s visit to Argentina. Lunch with business leaders, Caputo and Milei meets, celebrations at the Economy Ministry and trade talks.

by Eugenia Muzio

Crime & Security

La Matanza tops homicide stats in Buenos Aires Province

16-04-2025 14:23 More than 150 murders were recorded in La Matanza last year — 11 more than in 2023.

Exchange rates are displayed in the financial district of Buenos Aires.

ANALYSIS: SHOCK THERAPY

Milei risks reigniting inflation by floating Argentina’s peso

16-04-2025 12:35 Decision to ease currency controls is having an impact in the real economy. Retailers and importers are cautiously adjusting their prices as the peso weakens. And some fear it could spark inflation.

ENERGY & GAS

Vista buys Petronas’ Argentina oil stake in US$1.5-billion deal

16-04-2025 12:25 Deal all but cements exit of Malaysia’s Petronas; It’s also a sign that development of Vaca Muerta will increasingly be spearheaded by homegrown drillers.

Wang Wei, China's ambassador in Argentina.

DIPLOMATIC ROW

Chinese Embassy hits back after Bessent’s remarks in Argentina

15-04-2025 17:48 Beijing’s Embassy in Buenos Aires issues expressing “deep dissatisfaction and categorical rejection of the malicious slanders and libellous remarks” made by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent during visit to Buenos Aires.

IMF BOOSTS RESERVES

Central Bank reserves hit US$36 billion after first IMF tranche

15-04-2025 17:26 First disbursement of US$12 billion arrives from International Monetary Fund, boosting reserves; Official exchange rate rises to 1,223 pesos per dollar; Country risk falls to 725 points.

ENERGY & GAS

PAE confirms shale gas reserves in Chubut Province

15-04-2025 16:51 Pan American Energy to invest US$250 million in project to exploit shale gas findings in Cerro Dragon field, says Chubut Governor Ignacio Torres.

This combination of pictures created on February 04, 2025 shows, L-R, US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House on February 3, 2025, in Washington, DC and China's President Xi Jinping speaking in Macau on December 19, 2024.

GEOPOLITICS & DIPLOMACY

Trump’s China trade war is forcing Latin America to pick a side

15-04-2025 14:02 Intensifying battle between world’s two largest economies has left governments grappling with the reality that their days of doing big business with Beijing without serious blowback from Washington are numbered.

US TREASURY SECRETARY

Bessent expects Argentina to be able to pay off China swap

14-04-2025 19:13 Scott Bessent hails Argentina as a free-market beacon in Latin America; US Treasury secretary said he expects Argentina to be able to pay off its swap line with China, but that US government isn’t considering providing any direct credit.

A combine harvester cuts through a field of soybean plants at a drought-affected farm in San José de la Esquina, Argentina in April 2023.

AGRICULTURE & ECONOMY

Milei tells farmers to sell soy now as peso slides 12%

14-04-2025 19:08 Farmers are starting to harvest their soy crop, worth billions of dollars in export revenues that Milei desperately needs at the Central Bank. But, so far, they have traded it at a crawl.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Buenos Aires.

Foreign relations & diplomacy

US Treasury secretary offers 'full support' to Milei at Casa Rosada

14-04-2025 17:29 US Treasury Scott Bessent visits Buenos Aires for talks with Javier Milei, his economic team and private-sector representatives; Official tells President he wants Washington to be Argentina's "partner of choice".

A sign with the value of the dollar exchange rate is seen in a store window in Buenos Aires on April 14, 2025.

ECONOMIC CHANGES

Peso slides, bonds jump after FX rules lifted

14-04-2025 13:46 Argentina’s sovereign debt climbed Monday while the peso slipped after the country lifted most of its currency-market restrictions.

A woman stands in front of a money exchange office with the value of the currency in the window in Buenos Aires on April 14, 2025.

CHAU CEPO

'Cepo' lifted: Peso depreciates 8.4% in initial trading

14-04-2025 13:24 Peso depreciated 8.4% against the US dollar at the open of markets on Monday, following the partial removal of foreign exchange controls in place since 2019.

ECONOMY – ANALYSIS

IMF bets billions on Milei’s chainsaw to avert past debacles

13-04-2025 08:50 Frontloading disbursements is a controversial move that increases the IMF’s exposure to its biggest debtor, just as Milei faces the same policy dilemmas that have doomed his predecessors.

A man holds a sign that reads 'Milei swindler. No to the IMF' during a protest of pensioners and union members against the government of Argentina's President Javier Milei in front of the National Congress in Buenos Aires on April 9, 2025

ARGENTINA & THE IMF

Another IMF loan: for Argentina, it’s Groundhog Day

12-04-2025 15:24 Generations of Argentines feel their country is trapped in a recurring cycle: yet another loan from the International Monetary Fund to rescue a volatile economy.

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

Milei gains 'breathing room' from his ties with Trump

12-04-2025 11:54 The support President Milei has garnered from the Trump administration stands in stark contrast to the mounting challenges on the home front.

by Pablo Varela

A woman holds her phone next to posters plastered by political organisation La Cámpora reading 'IMF never again' on a construction site in Buenos Aires on April 11, 2025.

IMF DEBT PROGRAMME

Argentina and the International Monetary Fund: A long, tricky history

12-04-2025 09:29 Argentina, which has a track record of economic crises and hyperinflation, is already the IMF's biggest debtor, ahead even of war-torn Ukraine.

As I see it

Trump has China in the crosshairs

12-04-2025 05:41 The 19th century belonged to the United Kingdom, the 20th to the United States. And the 21st?

by James Neilson

Milei and Argentina caught in Trump's trade war with China.

Global politics – Analysis

Trump, Milei and how to lose the trust of markets and voters

12-04-2025 05:37 Trump stepped back from the edge, at least momentarily, even though he is keeping his finger on the trigger.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Analysing Argentina

Careful Javier, the ‘caste’ smells blood

12-04-2025 05:29 Legislators who had until now been cooperative or aloof toward confrontation with Milei are changing their tune, in line with what they hear from their constituencies.

by Marcelo J. García

Campaign comments

And so it begins

12-04-2025 05:22 This year’s midterm voting begins tomorrow in the major province of Santa Fe with the constituent assembly elections.

by Michael Soltys

Editorial

Into More Frustrations

12-04-2025 05:06 A Ruby Tuesday for President Javier Milei while the world at large is in an acute age of uncertainty thanks to Donald Trump’s tariff onslaught.