News of economy

DEBT RESTRUCTURING

'We can't do more than this,' Fernández tells Argentina's creditors

Yesterdat 23:54 President says in a radio interview that Argentina has made its "maximum effort" to reach an agreement with bondholders, reiterating that what's on the table is the country's "final offer."

DEBT RESTRUCTURING

‘Final’ offer on table as debt talks enter critical stage

11-07-2020 08:54 Argentina formalises latest debt bond swap proposal, filing offer with SEC and extending deadline to August 4.

THE WEEK

What we learned this week: July 4 to July 11

11-07-2020 08:39 Stories that caught our eye over the past seven days in Argentina.

EDITORIAL

Apocalypse now

11-07-2020 08:27 Quarantine saves thousands of lives but lockdown spells meltdown – both these truths are irrefutable and yet completely in conflict despite the efforts to present this as a false dilemma.

POLARISATION AT WHAT PRICE?

Argentina: Great at failing miserably at democracy

11-07-2020 08:19 What level of tolerance to dissent are we willing to accept? And at which point does the discussion about who thinks what shut out the underlying debates we should be having?

by Agustino Fontevecchia

POLITICS & THE PANDEMIC

The arguing never stops

11-07-2020 08:13 The arguing will never go away. At times it pauses briefly when the public is hit by unsettling news on the coronavirus front, but then, in no time at all, the bickering begins once more.

by Martín Gambarotta

POLARISATION & POLITICS

So much for unity: La grieta returns with a vengeance

11-07-2020 07:42 Tensions between government and opposition soar in week Argentina celebrated Independence Day.

BLOOMBERG

Ecuador’s speedy debt deal underscores Argentina’s hang-ups

10-07-2020 17:31 President Lenín Moreno’s administration struck an agreement with some of its top bondholders this week ahead of a mid-August deadline, when a moratorium on payments ends. By contrast, Argentina has presented a second binding offer to creditors after pushing back its deadline five times.

DEBT RESTRUCTURING

Guzmán rules out changes to offer, but creditors say proposal 'falls short'

09-07-2020 02:37 Economy Minister Martín Guzmán rules out further changes to government's debt restructuring offer as offer wins support from IMF and some G20 finance ministers. Large creditors, however, aren't impressed.

BLOOMBERG

Malbec bonds beat defaulted Argentine peers on investor hope

09-07-2020 02:26 A glimmer of hope is lurking within Argentina’s default-ravaged debt landscape: Bonds sold by Mendoza, the Andean-bordering province famed for exports of full-bodied Malbec wine.

DEBT RESTRUCTURING

This is Argentina's final debt offer, Guzmán tells creditors

08-07-2020 17:33 Economy minister describes talks as "a cold shower of reality for creditors," as they've come to realise Argentina's limitations.

DEBT RESTRUCTURING

Favourable initial reaction to Argentina's new debt swap offer

08-07-2020 16:58 Two investment funds, Gramercy and Fintech Advisory, express approval for Argentina's new debt restructuring offer. Creditors entering the swap stand to obtain 53.5 cents for every dollar loaned as against 39 cents in the first offer rejected by most creditors.

DEBT RESTRUCTURING

Government files new debt restructuring offer with SEC

07-07-2020 14:04 Argentina formally presents its new proposal to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, extending deadline for acceptance to August 4.

BLOOMBERG - OPINION

Mohamed A. El-Erian: Argentina's debt proposal deserves support

07-07-2020 01:35 It would be in neither side's long-term interest to allow the theoretical best to be the enemy of the attainable good – what is now on the table warrants support by both Argentina and its creditors.

DEBT RESTRUCTURING

Fernández: New offer to creditors on way, deadline moved to August 4

05-07-2020 22:10 Argentina to present new offer to bondholders on Monday, with deadline extended until August 4.

CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC

Anxiety and anguish in Buenos Aires as lockdown returns

04-07-2020 08:57 The Buenos Aires metropolitan area returned to a strict quarantine this week and many citizens are growing increasingly uncomfortable.

OPINION

Giorgio was right

04-07-2020 08:51 Quarantine has been renewed, presented as a lifestyle by the government.

by Pola Oloixarac

ANALYSIS

Sino-American dispute a looming threat for Argentina and Brazil

04-07-2020 07:57 The relationship between Buenos Aires and Brasilia is in intensive care and the lack of coordination between the two governments exposes the region to an external vulnerability – becoming a place where the US and China settle their differences.

by Leandro Dario

SPECIAL INVESTIGATION

¿Qué pasa entre Alberto y Cristina?

04-07-2020 07:41 Pressure is growing on President Fernández to found his own ‘Albertismo’ movement, while Cristina Fernández de Kirchner sets the pace for both, with infighting channelled through their officials and allies – a tussle most recently exposed by the move on Vicentín.

DEBT RESTRUCTURING

Two creditor groups mull 'lock-up' to oppose government's offer

03-07-2020 03:47 The Ad Hoc and Exchange Bondholder groups are closely watching to see if the government submits an offer that it has discussed with a third creditor group – the Argentina Creditor Committee – and would reject it.

DEBT RESTRUCTURING TALKS

Government weighs earlier coupon payments as debt talks stall

30-06-2020 19:09 Argentina is considering paying coupons sooner than previously announced, as it aims to close a gap with creditors in debt restructuring talks, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Coronavirus in Patagonia

Bariloche covered in snow but stripped of tourists, thanks to Covid-19

30-06-2020 17:37 Snow has fallen in Bariloche, but the streets and slopes are quiet in the famed tourist destination. Local businesses estimate that losses this month alone will be around 3.6 billion pesos (about US$48 million).

DEBT RESTRUCTURING

Argentina's creditors urge officials to move ahead on debt talks

30-06-2020 15:10 Creditors groups call for progress on talks, saying the "lack of serious engagement from the Argentine authorities is deeply concerning."

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Argentina's economy tanked in April as virus hit home

30-06-2020 12:33 Construction was the worst hit industry, plummeting 86.4%, with hotels and restaurants not far behind (down 85.6%). Manufacturing, down 34.4%, and business, which lost 27%, were also hard hit.

BLOOMBERG

Economy plunges more than expected after lockdown

29-06-2020 23:10 Economic activity fell 17.5% in April from the previous month, and 26.4% from a year ago, the government reported Monday.

DEBT RESTRUCTURING

What’s the hold-up? Four sticking points in Argentina’s debt talks

27-06-2020 08:59 Four issues are keeping the government and its creditors apart ahead of the July 24 deadline for an accord.

THE LAST SEVEN DAYS

What we learned this week: June 20 to June 27

27-06-2020 08:53 A round-up of the stories that caught our eye over the last seven days in Argentina.

EDITORIAL

100 days

27-06-2020 08:46 Behind closed frontiers in most cases with the nation state in full revival, each government lurches into its own response in a global patchwork of quarantine strategies amid total uncertainty.

PERIODISMO PURO / INTERVIEW

Jeffrey Sachs: ‘This is not a game for BlackRock to get an extra percentage point – that's absurd’

27-06-2020 08:29 US economist and public policy analyst Jeffrey Sachs on Argentina’s debt restructuring talks, the Macri administration’s missteps and the fall-out from the coronavirus pandemic.

by Jorge Fontevecchia

BLOOMBERG

Argentina reached ‘an understanding’ with one creditor group, says Guzmán

25-06-2020 16:30 Argentina reached an understanding – but not an agreement – with one group of creditors, but major differences remain with another key faction, says Economy Minister Martín Guzmán said Thursday.

BUSINESSES, SHOPS, STORES

Double whammy of virus and recession forces closures in the capital

25-06-2020 00:59 According to a survey by the Federation of Commerce and Industry of Buenos Aires, at least 18 percent of the 110,000 businesses in the capital have shut down since the coronavirus began.

PERIDISMO PURO / INTERVIEW

Kenneth Rogoff: 'This isn't normal. This is a full-scale natural catastrophe.'

24-06-2020 23:52 Leading US economist Kenneth Rogoff sat down for an exclusive interview with Perfil's Jorge Fontevecchia to discuss the coronavirus pandemic, its economic impact and relief for indebted nations.

Coronavirus economies

IMF forecasts deeper Latin America recession in 2020

24-06-2020 16:59 International Monetary Fund predicts 9.4% contraction in Latin America and the Caribbean, largely due to the economies of Mexico and Brazil, both of which are struggling to contain the Covid-19 pandemic.

BLOOMBERG – ANALYSIS

In perennial economic crisis, Argentina faces worst year yet

23-06-2020 23:15 Some analysts are predicting a record contraction for Argentina's economy this year, with double-digit estimates of decline beginning to emerge.

DEBT RESTRUCTURING

Guzmán says Argentina cannot commit to demand from creditors group

23-06-2020 21:31 Guzmán says Argentina cannot commit to legal terms proposed by one of the leading creditor groups, the Ad Hoc Bondholder Group, but remains open to discussion.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

INDEC: Economy contracted by 5.4% in first quarter of 2020

23-06-2020 20:37 Unemployment rose to 10.4% in the first three months of the year, before the coronavirus lockdown kicked in, national statistics bureau reveals.

MINISTRY POSITIONS

Taxation the only certainty beyond the end of life (and this column)

20-06-2020 11:11 Taxation dates from this country’s earliest days even if customs dominated revenue in colonial and 19th century Argentina, the root cause of the incredible centralisation persisting today.

by Michael Soltys

BEEF INDUSTRY

Beef industry surmounts coronavirus-led disruption of trade

20-06-2020 11:01 Exports overall dropped in the first third of 2020, but overseas beef sales rose more than 10% in the same period, when compared to the previous year.

CONGRESS

Cafiero faces flurry of questions in Congress début

20-06-2020 10:44 Cabinet chief defends move to nationalise Vicentin, says pensions have improved in real terms.

Coronavirus pandemic

CIPPEC: Central Bank main source of Treasury financing during pandemic

20-06-2020 10:27 The Central Bank has become the main source of Treasury funding during the pandemic crisis, passing from 3% to 40% of the total in the past year, the CIPPEC think-tank has revealed.

THE LAST SEVEN DAYS

What we learned this week: June 13 to June 20

20-06-2020 09:55 Some of the most important stories in Argentina from the last seven days.

EDITORIAL

Flag-waving nationalism or a smart state?

20-06-2020 09:37 Arguing for and against the state has been overtaken by events – the debate can only be over how to better the state.

EXPROPRIATION OF VICENTIN

Vicentin’s expropriation and how to break bad news

20-06-2020 09:26 A Peronist expropriation, and maybe even nationalisation, sounds like the best way to burn a lot of money straight into inefficient bureaucracy and corruption.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

DEBT RESTRUCTURING

Creditors accuse Argentina of 'terminating dialogue' in order to 'provoke division'

20-06-2020 08:46 Ad Hoc and Exchange Bondholder groups says they’re “united in disappointment” about the decision to “terminate dialogue” with creditors and extend talks at a critical juncture of negotiations.

DEBT RESTRUCTURING

Debt restructuring 'progressing,' deadline extended for five weeks

20-06-2020 08:25 Deadline now set for July 24 "to continue discussions and allow the investors to contribute to a successful restructure," the government said in a statement.

DEBT RESTRUCTURING

Creditors' group issues court threat as debt talks hit a wall

18-06-2020 02:19 Talks seemed to have hit a wall, with one government source saying it was "highly unlikely" a deal will be agreed before Friday's deadline.

DEBT RESTRUCTURING

Debt talks with creditors stall amid growing animosity

18-06-2020 01:21 Ad Hoc Bondholder Group, one of several that have been most active in the talks, slammed Argentina for rejecting what it called a “sustainable and sensible solution.”

BLOOMBERG – ANALYSIS

Argentine corporates are bright spot after nation's debt default

18-06-2020 00:28 You might think Argentine companies will struggle to make bond payments due this year amid the government’s ninth default, a long recession and ever-stricter capital controls. You’d be wrong.

DEBT RESTRUCTURING

Argentina extends confidentiality agreements with creditors as talks continue

16-06-2020 23:12 Government likely to present its new offer on Friday, with deadline set for another extension until Monday.

Bloomberg

Farmers shun government's solution to debt conundrum

16-06-2020 22:28 Agriculture sector lobbying against the government’s proposal to sweeten an offer on its overseas debt restructuring with payments tied to sector's exports.