News of money

Money printer goes quiet and Argentina's government gets squeezed

28-04-2021 21:14 The Central Bank’s fight against inflation is upending the local bond market and squeezing government finances as Argentina struggles to regain traction while the pandemic rages on.

Argentina can’t overcome its chronic inflation issue

24-04-2021 01:41 In the first three months of 2021, price rises showed no sign of slowing down. As well as being cause for concern for the government, businesses and citizens are feeling the pinch.

Face mask row gets bawdy in Bolsonaro's Brazil

12-03-2021 01:45 A roiling row over face masks in President Jair Bolsonaro's Brazil veers into not-safe-for-work territory.

Fernández conditions IMF talks with lines from Instituto Patria

06-03-2021 09:15 Argentina’s Peronist leader has delivered the International Monetary Fund a clear message, echoing the lines of a Kirchnerite think-tank and modifying Economy Minister Martín Guzmán’s plans to seal a debt restructuring deal by May.

Consumers predict inflation will hit 45% this year

30-01-2021 08:00 New survey reveals consumers expect prices to soar over next year; International Monetary Fund cuts Argentina’s growth forecast for 2021, predicting 4.5% rise in GDP this year.

Alberto’s 21st-century agenda?

30-01-2021 07:18 In order to imagine an avant garde agenda worthy of the 21st century, Argentina needs to fix its 20th-century problems.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Brazilian senator caught hiding money 'between buttocks'

15-10-2020 19:38 A Brazilian lawmaker has stepped down from his position representing President Jair Bolsonaro’s government and been suspended from the Senate, after police searched his house and found allegedly illegally obtained cash hidden in his underwear.

Bolsonaro says he 'ended' Lava Jato corruption probe

08-10-2020 17:10 Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said Wednesday that he has ended the country's biggest-ever corruption probe as there is "no more corruption in the government."

With a track record of disasters, Argentina and IMF think small

12-09-2020 10:36 It’s only two years since the IMF broke its own credit records by offering Argentina US$57 billion. Now, talks over a new financing programme are beginning anew.

Brazil's Covid response brings out Bolsonaro's inner leftist

01-09-2020 09:45 With little aptitude for reforms and even less for leadership, Bolsonaro has addressed the ravages of the pandemic by turning to the oldest Latin American expedient: government cash.

by Mac Margolis

Federer tops list of world's highest-paid athletes, with Messi third

01-06-2020 15:40 Tennis superstar Roger Federer tops Forbes list after earning US$106.3 million before tax in 2019. Argentina skipper Lionel Messi comes in at third with US$104 million, just behind Cristiano Ronaldo.

Debt, default, devil, detail

23-05-2020 09:39 It is still well worth asking why it has come to this. The government’s debt strategy of pressing for a settlement in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic baffles any conventional wisdom.

Epidemiologists versus economists

09-05-2020 11:01 There are few places in which the habit of assuming that economic policy should be left to would-be ethicists is more firmly entrenched than it is in Argentina.

by James Neilson

Helicopter money won’t ease Latin America’s pandemic pain

08-05-2020 09:25 Along with Covid-19, a fever of wonkery has broken out over how to reverse the collective economic contraction and to carry on once the health emergency has passed. As the worst of the pandemic is yet to come.

by Mac Margolis

IMF rejects Maduro's bid for emergency US$5-billion loan to fight virus

18-03-2020 10:18 Fund says request can't be considered because there was no clarity among its 189 member states on who it recognises as Venezuela's rightful leader: Nicolás Maduro or Juan Guaidó.

Dollars under the mattress: Argentina's preferred way of saving

01-03-2020 20:15 Hit it by decades of inflation, recessions and cyclical devaluations, many Argentines prefer to take refuge in the dollar as a way of saving and hide their money "under the mattress."

Government will continue making payments during debt talks, says Pesce

19-12-2019 07:42 Speaking at event at the American Club, new Central Bank chief says government wants to continue making debt payments while it renegotiates with creditors in the coming months.

Brazilian police seek arrest of former Paraguay president Horacio Cartes

20-11-2019 15:03 Brazilian police are seeking the arrest of Cartes as part of an investigation into kickbacks and money-laundering. Federal prosecutors said Tuesday that former president is among 20 suspects being sought by Brazilian police.

Peru President Vizcarra dissolves Congress, calls fresh elections

01-10-2019 09:18 Peru lurches into new period of political uncertainty after Martín Vizcarra dissolves opposition-controlled congress and calls new elections in anti-corruption row.

The US$185-million bond payment that's overdue and stuck in Argentina

13-09-2019 15:55 Real-estate firm IRSA has the cash to cover a bond payment to foreign and local creditors. But then capital controls arrived – and everything got a lot more complicated...