News of economy

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

Yesterday 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

Yesterday 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

Yesterday 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.

President Javier Milei hosts Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his office at the Casa Rosada.

FOREIGN POLICY

President Milei hosts India PM Narendra Modi at Casa Rosada

05-07-2025 13:31 Second meeting between two national leaders after G20 talks last year; India, the world’s fifth-largest economy, is a key export destination for Argentina.

As I see it

Milei hurt by yet another time bomb

05-07-2025 07:34 A New York judge has ordered the government to hand just over half the shares in YPF to a vulture fund that had purchased the rights of companies harmed by the cack-handed takeover of the oil firm in 2015.

by James Neilson

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

Anti-Milei sentiment growing among Argentina’s elites

05-07-2025 06:38 There’s a growing feeling among certain groups of elites that the Milei administration will fail at some point in the near future.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Editorial

Yesterday’s Petrol Fiasco

05-07-2025 06:03 Manhattan judge Loretta Preska’s controversial ruling on the US$16-billion time-bomb compensating speculative interests for the nationalisation of YPF needs to be viewed in its electoral context as much as for its legal force.

A snowman is pictured on a snow-covered beach in Miramar, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, on June 30, 2025.

THE WEEK IN REVIEW

Stories that caught our eye: June 27 to July 4

04-07-2025 18:09 A selection of the stories that caught our eye over the last seven days in Argentina.

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, when she was president, and the late Enrique Eskenazi, founder of Grupo Petersen.

Background to YPF takeover

YPF: How a firm was purchased with its own money, ending in a multi-billion-dollar lawsuit

04-07-2025 08:56 The Eskenazis family entered into YPF thanks to Néstor Kirchner without placing a dollar. The Grupo Petersen purchased shares with the promise to pay with the dividends. More than a decade on, the case in the US courts.

View of the headquarters of the state oil company YPF in Buenos Aires.

YPF NATIONALISATION CASE

Argentina appeals US$16-billion YPF court ruling

04-07-2025 08:42 Argentina appeals US judge's order to hand over 51% of shares in YPF in expropriation case; Milei points finger at Kicillof, Fernández de Kirchner as fears over ruling impact grow.

Shoppers at a supermarket in Buenos Aires.

ECONOMIC WOES

'The stressed' – Argentina's ‘Non-poor’ who can’t reach the end of the month

04-07-2025 06:58 The INDEC national statistics bureau does not consider them poor, but millions of Argentina can’t make it to the end of the month; New study by UCA’s poverty watchdog shines light on those living under “economic stress”

by Agustina Bordigoni

Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Argentina's President Javier Milei pose for the family photo during the 66th Summit of Leaders of Mercosur and Associated States at the Palacio San Martín in Buenos Aires on July 3, 2025.

ANALYSIS

Lula hugs it out with Milei, but saves warm embrace for Fernández de Kirchner

03-07-2025 18:43 The sharp divides roiling Latin American politics were visible in a pair of hugs.

YPF NATIONALISATION CASE

Investors see way for Milei to end fight over YPF

03-07-2025 16:43 Could there be a silver lining for Javier Milei in the multibillion-dollar US judgment targeting Argentina’s main oil producer?

Foreign Minister Gerardo Werthein speaks with President Javier Milei on arrival for the 66th Summit of Leaders of Mercosur and Associated States at the Palacio San Martín in Buenos Aires on July 3, 2025.

MERCOSUR SUMMIT

Milei urges Mercosur to pursue greater trade openness at summit

03-07-2025 11:58 President Javier Milei urges Mercosur partners to push for greater trade openness within the bloc as he opened a summit in Buenos Aires.

FOREIGN POLICY & DIPLOMACY

Milei reportedly ‘not interested’ in meeting Mercosur peers

03-07-2025 00:48 Government source tell reporters that Argentina’s president has little interest in meeting him Mercosur peers – though a bilateral with Paraguay’s Santiago Peña could take place.

Elon Musk holds a chainsaw alongside Argentina's President Javier Milei during the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center at National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland, on February 20, 2025.

No more love for Milei?

Musk walks back chainsaw wielding display: ‘It lacked empathy’

02-07-2025 20:52 Billionaire Elon Musk now regrets his chainsaw-wielding appearance with President Javier Milei, it seems...

A view of the Argentina's Foreign Ministry headquarters building in Buenos Aires on July 1, 2025, on the eve of the 66th Summit of leaders of Mercosur and Associated States to be held on July 2 and 3.

MERCOSUR TRADE TALKS

Mercosur, European EFTA bloc conclude talks on free-trade deal

02-07-2025 19:10 Mercosur and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) close negotiations over a free-trade agreement.

Shipping containers at the Greenland Terminal in the port at Brevik, Norway.

MERCOSUR TRADE DEAL

Swiss-Norway group and South America’s Mercosur agree on free-trade deal

02-07-2025 18:17 European Free Trade Association of Switzerland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland finalise free-trade agreement with Mercosur bloc.

CURRENCY MARKETS

Peso weakens as seasonal bonus stokes dollar demand

02-07-2025 17:38 Peso weakens to 1,243 pesos per dollar during trading as seasonal demand for dollars picks up.

A policeman stands guard nearby the Palacio San Martín in Buenos Aires during the Ordinary Meeting of the Common Market Council (CMC) on July 2, 2025, within the framework of the 66th Summit of Leaders of Mercosur and Associated States.

MERCOSUR SUMMIT IN BUENOS AIRES

Fate of EU free-trade deal looms as Milei hosts Mercosur summit

02-07-2025 12:54 Leaders of South America's Mercosur bloc will hold two days of talks in Buenos Aires, focused on a massive trade deal with the European Union being blocked by France.

Brokerages boomed in Argentina between 2019 and early 2024, when capital controls fuelled demand for so-called blue-chip swap operations.

ANALYSIS: SHOCK THERAPY

Milei’s foreign-exchange shake-up has brokers moving into banking

02-07-2025 11:42 Brokerages are restructuring after President Javier Milei took away lucrative arbitrage opportunities that juiced their business when he rolled back capital controls.

US$16-billion court ruling

Milei vows appeal amid fallout as US judge orders transfer of YPF shares

01-07-2025 11:12 President vows to appeal as US judge orders Argentina to hand over 51% of shares in YPF in expropriation case; Milei points finger at Kicillof, Fernández de Kirchner as fears over ruling impact grow.

A customer pays with Argentine peso banknotes at a cafe in Buenos Aires on April 14.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Economy grew more than expected after Milei lifted controls

30-06-2025 17:51 Argentina’s economy grew more than expected in April, with economic activity up 1.9% on previous month.

GOVERNMENT & POLITICS

Court strikes down Milei decree restricting right to strike

30-06-2025 15:15 Ruling says measure lacked urgency and bypassed Congress without any justification.

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

COURT BLOW

Argentina must turn over 51% stake in YPF, US judge rules

30-06-2025 14:48 US judge orders state to turn over its controlling stake in state-run oil company YPF SA as partial payment of a US$16-billion court judgment.

‘Mattress dollars’

INDEC reveals how many dollars Argentines have stashed away

30-06-2025 13:02 INDEC estimates the amount of cash stashed outside the traditional financial system fell by more than US$3 billion in the first quarter of the year from the preceding period.

EU-MERCOSUR TRADE DEAL

EU to present Mercosur trade deal 'in coming days'

30-06-2025 13:01 European Commission will present EU states with the final legal version of a trade deal with South American nations "in the coming days," says spokesperson.

Argentina's President Javier Milei laughs during the LXV Mercosur Summit in Montevideo on December 6, 2024.

MERCOSUR SUMMIT IN BUENOS AIRES

Milei to host Mercosur presidents amid tensions with Lula

29-06-2025 11:54 President will lead this week’s two-day two summit in Buenos Aires; Argentina’s leader to again push for a liberal shift in the South American trade bloc’s future.

WATER AND ARGENTINA

Where water runs dry, hope begins

29-06-2025 06:26 With over seven million compatriots without access to drinking water, the situation is becoming especially dramatic in the face of the extreme events arising from climate change. Nevertheless, persons and communities – especially the most vulnerable – are working together with NGOs to confront an increasingly hostile reality with creativity and communal effort.

by Fernanda Sández

View of oil drilling rigs in Neuquén, Argentina.

ENERGY & GAS

Total gets offers for potential sale of Argentina shale oil assets

28-06-2025 18:12 France’s TotalEnergies SE is in talks with at least two suitors who have submitted bids for its shale oil assets in Argentina.

France's Delegate Minister for Foreign Trade and French Nationals Abroad Laurent Saint-Martin (right) shakes hands with Argentina's Mining Secretary Luis Lucero (left), during the signing of a memorandum of understanding on critical minerals between France and Argentina at the French Embassy in Buenos Aires on June 27, 2025.

FOREIGN RELATIONS

France and Argentina sign agreement on critical minerals

28-06-2025 10:29 New agreement designed to accelerate investment and cooperation in Argentina’s mining sector, which could become a key player in the global energy transition for France.

Analysing Argentina

Milei’s Argentina: A tale of two pockets

28-06-2025 07:33 There is a “dollarised” Argentina doing well and a “pesofied” Argentina that is struggling.

by Marcelo J. García

Campaign comments

Midterms in midyear

28-06-2025 07:24 Given the total inability of the protagonists in Buenos Aires Province to get their act together, the midterms still four months away are looking more like candidates for “It’s the economy, stupid” than ever.

by Michael Soltys

The US Embassy hosts its annual Independence Day celebration.

the week in review

Stories that caught our eye: June 20 to June 27

27-06-2025 17:41 A selection of the stories that caught our eye over the last seven days in Argentina.

AGRICULTURE & ECONOMY

Crop traders rush to secure Argentine cargoes as Milei perk ends

27-06-2025 14:03 Agriculture traders rush to get crop shipments on the books before government's tariff relief expires next week.

DEBT & BONDS

Córdoba Province sells US$725 million of debt abroad

27-06-2025 13:51 Cordoba Province taps investors in the first international debt sale by a local government since President Javier Milei took office.

BUSINESS & BANKING

Argentine fintech Tapi buys Mastercard unit in Mexico expansion

27-06-2025 13:15 Argentine payments services startup tapi has acquired the bill payment and cash-handling operations of Mastercard’s Arcus in Mexico, part of a bid to double-down on Latin America’s second-largest economy.

Soy is loaded onto a ship along the Paraná River at a processing facility in Rosario on March 26, 2024.

AGRICULTURE & ECONOMY

China imports Argentina soy meal in trial amid US tensions

26-06-2025 17:45 China has booked a rare shipment of soybean meal from Argentina amid an ongoing trade war with the United States.

BANKING & FINTECH

UK fintech giant Revolut to acquire BNP’s Cetelem in Argentina

26-06-2025 14:46 Revolut, Europe’s largest digital bank, to acquire Argentina’s Banco Cetelem, a small local lender owned by BNP Paribas.

Workers at the Garrahan Children's Hospital in Buenos Aires protest against government policies, demanding improves wages and budget for the prestigious paediatric institution.

HEALTH & ECONOMY

Workers at top children's hospital strike over pay, budget cutbacks

25-06-2025 17:47 Workers at the Garrahan Children's Hospital in Buenos Aires protest against government policies, demanding improves wages and budget for the prestigious paediatric institution.

Child poverty in the north of Argentina.

SOCIETY

Child poverty on rise in northwest and northwest of Argentina

24-06-2025 14:18 Child poverty as measured by UCA watchdog dropped from 58.8% to 52.8% nationwide between second halves of 2023 and 2024. But the drop was uneven and, in some parts of Argentina’s north, the situation even worsened.

by Agustina Bordigoni

Commuters near Constitución train station in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Economy grows less than expected as imports surge

23-06-2025 22:46 Gross domestic product expanded 0.8% in first three months of the year compared with the previous quarter, short of analysts' estimates.

Workers at a factory in Buenos Aires Province.

JOBS & EMPLOYMENT

Economic pick-up fails to filter through to job market

23-06-2025 15:43 Improved economic activity has reversed last year's shrinkage but the improvement has yet to seep through to the labour market – in March the private sector shed over 7,000 jobs with numbers of self-employed simultaneously on the rise.

by Martín Fernández Nadale

ANALYSING ARGENTINA

Will Milei be haunted by the ghost of Cristina?

21-06-2025 06:07 The arrest and jailing of a political opponent may be good news for incumbents in the short term, but nothing good results in the medium to long term.

by Marcelo J. García

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

Dissidence will be treated as treason

21-06-2025 05:59 A leader as experienced as Cristina Fernández de Kirchner knows there is no time to waste, as the window of opportunity could quickly close.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

In this aerial view supporters of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner gather at Plaza de Mayo square to protest against her conviction and house arrest in Buenos Aires on June 18, 2025.

THE WEEK IN REIVEW

Stories that caught our eye: June 13 to 20

20-06-2025 17:52 A selection of the stories that caught our eye over the last seven days in Argentina.

This photograph shows second life battery cells at the VoltR plant, French manufacturer of eco-designed lithium batteries, in Verrieres-en-Anjou, western France on June 10, 2025.

lithium mining

Europe's lithium quest hampered by China and lack of cash

20-06-2025 09:20 Too much regulation and not enough investment, the paradox facing a Europe –in need of lithium.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Unemployment rises despite economic recovery, data shows

19-06-2025 22:19 Unemployment in Argentina rose to 7.9 percent in the first quarter of 2025, according to INDEC data.

Businessman Alejandro 'Alec' Oxenford present his credentials to US President Donald Trump,.

DIPLOMACY & FOREIGN POLICY

Oxenford takes up post as Argentina’s ambassador to United States

18-06-2025 14:24 Tech businessman presents credentials to US President Donald Trump; Foreign Ministry reshuffle continues with appointment of key economic envoy.

by Cecilia Degl'Innocenti

A shopper browses at a supermarket in Buenos Aires.

ANALYSIS

Inflation and the ballot box: Milei bets on falling prices to win votes

18-06-2025 12:46 Monthly CPI and wholesale rates are now central to the government’s election strategy – but questions are mounting over purchasing power and price-controlled services.

by Gonzalo Martínez

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Milei cools Argentina wholesale inflation to lowest since 2020

17-06-2025 23:23 Data shows wholesale prices declined in May for the first time since the height of the pandemic.

US President Donald Trump waves after leaving the G7 Leaders’ Summit early on June 16.

ISRAEL-IRAN CONFLICT

Trump says wants 'real end' to Israel-Iran conflict, not ceasefire

17-06-2025 11:05 US President Donald Trump said he wants a "real end" to the conflict between Israel and Iran, not just a ceasefire, as he leaves G7 summit early.

BUSINESS & INVESTMENT

Argentine deregulation offers upside for Globant in a tough year

17-06-2025 10:33 Software company Globant says the deregulation of the local financial industry is prompting companies to step up investment in technology systems.

Pro-Cristina demonstration in Buenos Aires.

THE WEEK IN REVIEW

Stories that caught our eye: June 6 to 13

13-06-2025 18:03 A selection of stories that caught our eye over the last seven days in Argentina.