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☆ Argentina to push July IMF debt payments to month-end -source
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BUENOS AIRES, July 5 (Reuters) - Argentina will push loan repayments due to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in July to the end of the month, a person familiar with the matter at the Ministry of Economy said on Wednesday. The payments total $2.6 billion for the month and include $1.3 billion due on Friday. Argentina struck a $44 billion loan deal with the IMF last year to replace a failed 2018 program. The IMF did not respond to a request for comment outside of business hours. Reporting by Eliana Raszewski; Writing by Carolina Pulice; Editing by Christopher CushingOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Eliana Raszewski, Carolina Pulice, Christopher Cushing Organizations: International Monetary Fund, Ministry, Economy, IMF, Thomson Locations: BUENOS AIRES, Argentina

☆ Argentina to renew, expand China currency swap line
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Eliana Raszewski | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BUENOS AIRES, June 2 (Reuters) - Argentina has signed a deal to renew and potentially expand its currency swap line with China, the South American country's central bank said in a statement on Friday, a boost to the indebted nation's dwindling foreign currency reserves. The bank said that the two countries had agreed to renew the total 130 billion yuan ($18.36 billion) swap line for three more years, and could double the freely accessible part of the swap from 35 billion yuan now to 70 billion yuan, some $10 billion. "The procedure has begun to increase the usable amount by another 35 billion yuan," Argentina's central bank said following a meeting between officials in Beijing. The country's foreign currency reserves have fallen sharply this year due to a historic drought that slashed grains exports, the main source of dollar revenue, and the peso currency has weakened under the weight of 109% annual inflation. ($1 = 7.0820 Chinese yuan renminbi)Reporting by Eliana Raszewski; Writing by Brendan O'Boyle; Editing by Isabel WoodfordOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Eliana Raszewski, Brendan O'Boyle, Isabel Woodford Organizations: International Monetary Fund, Thomson Locations: BUENOS AIRES, Argentina, China, Beijing

☆ Argentina's new top banknote is worth as little as $4
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Eliana Raszewski | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Most Argentines buy dollars in unofficial markets where they trade at over 480 pesos versus the official rate of 235. The South American nation is also battling inflation at 109%, one of the highest in the world, which a central bank poll estimates could hit nearly 130% by the end of the year. "This higher denomination bill will improve the operation of ATMs and at the same time optimize the movement of cash," the central bank said in a statement on Monday. The largest bank note previously had been the 1,000 peso bill. The new 2,000 banknote has a design commemorating the development of science and medicine in Argentina, the central bank said.

☆ Exclusive: Venezuela's oil tankers at risk of sinking, fires, spills, report finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Mircely Guanipa | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The report by PDVSA's maritime branch, entitled "Critical deficiencies and risks of PDV Marina's tanker fleet," said years of deferred maintenance had left the entire fleet with "low levels of reliability," at risk of spills, sinking, fires, collisions or flooding. The report, dated March 2023, was among eight documents shared with Reuters describing the state of PDVSA's tanker fleet from the oil company's corporate office, trading division and maritime branch, as well as Venezuela's maritime authority. Five of PDVSA's tankers are at least 30 years old, past their recommended lifespan, according to the PDV Marina report. "The tanker fleet is showing a decline in the quality of its operations due to advanced physical deterioration, which implies higher maintenance and repair costs. Planning for sending the tankers to dry docks has been very affected by lack of payment to shipyards and providers," the PDV Marina report said.

BUENOS AIRES, April 20 (Reuters) - Argentina's central bank hiked the benchmark interest rate a sharper-than-expected 300 basis points on Thursday after inflation soared past expectations in March to hit 104% on an annual basis, the monetary authority said in a statement. The bank hiked the benchmark rate 300 basis points in March, the first raise since September at the end of a vicious tightening cycle through most of 2022. The bank had wanted to cut rates this year on hopes inflation would cool. Reuters reported earlier this month that central bank board members were discussing another interest rate hike to rein in one of the world's highest inflation rates. A central bank poll forecasts inflation will end this year at 110%, while J.P. Morgan estimates it could hit 130%.

☆ Argentina orders public sector to give up dollar bonds in debt shake-up
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Eliana Raszewski | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Agustin Marcarian/File PhotoBUENOS AIRES, March 23 (Reuters) - Argentina ordered public sector bodies on Thursday to sell or exchange their holdings of 11 sovereign dollar bonds in a bid to reorganize its debt as inflation soared above 100% and its foreign reserves dropped. A presidential decree in Argentina's official gazette said public sector bodies would have to sell or auction five local law dollar bonds maturing between 2029 and 2041, and to swap six foreign law dollar bonds for peso debt. The order makes official plans announced earlier in the week, which had dragged down the value of Argentina's sovereign bonds. These are already in distressed debt territory after a ninth sovereign default and a major debt restructuring in 2020. Public sector bodies will have to sell the local law dollar bonds and exchange foreign law dollar bonds maturing between 2029 and 2046 for debt payable in pesos issued by the Treasury.

☆ Argentina to push state entities to give up dollar bonds -ministry official
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Eliana Raszewski | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BUENOS AIRES, March 21 (Reuters) - Argentina's government will push state entities to give up their foreign-law sovereign dollar bonds, an economy ministry official said on Tuesday, aiming to reduce exchange rate volatility and absorb a surplus of pesos. The government, expected to announce the measures by decree on Wednesday, will seek to withdraw foreign-law dollar bonds from state entities and make them place a portion of their local-law dollar bonds on the open market, the official said on condition of anonymity. The government aims to exchange some $4 billion in foreign-law bonds for peso debt, local news outlet Infobae said. State entities that previously bought government bonds would give up some local-law dollar debt to the market, with the rest returned to the central government. They would also return their foreign-law dollar debt, to be exchanged for local-currency debt.

☆ Argentina February inflation data "very bad": government spokesperson
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BUENOS AIRES, March 16 (Reuters) - The Argentine government on Thursday said annual inflation data registered in February, the highest since 1991, was "very bad," but insisted that the 60% inflation rate forecast in this year's budget would be met, the president's spokesperson said. President Alberto Fernandez has struggled to rein in one of the world's highest inflation rates that has put increasing pressure on Argentine consumers. Argentina last month registered an inflation rate of 6.6% compared to January and 102.5% compared to February of the previous year, the highest data since the 115% annual rate in September 1991. "The inflation data obviously seems bad, very bad and also was not expected," presidential spokesperson Gabriela Cerruti said during a press conference. "We hope that the plan that was going to lower the curve, which had these problems, can somehow return to the path that was planned, indicated, and that we get to that (60% annual inflation)," she added.

☆ Argentina likely to see inflation tick up this year -analysts
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The bank's latest REM survey compares to a December forecast of a 98.4% inflation rate by the end of this year. The government of embattled President Alberto Fernandez sees creeping annual inflation for 2023 significantly lower, at just 60%, according to a budget projection. The survey's inflation forecast sees some relief by 2024, however, with prices rising by 79.6%, but up from its previous estimate of 75%. The analysts surveyed expect January's inflation rate to come in at 5.6%. The monthly rise in prices last December stood at 5.1%, according to the official IPC price index.

☆ Argentina OKs new 2,000 peso bill as inflation bites, still only worth $5
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Eliana Raszewski | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The largest current bill, the 1,000 peso note, is worth just $2.70 on the alternative markets most people use to exchange currency, including through formal money exchange firms. Given the new 2,000 peso note would still leave Argentina's largest tender as one of the lowest-valued in the region, a 5,000 peso bill is being studied, according to a source from the central bank, though has not yet been given approval. Reuters Graphics"The 2,000 peso denomination will be integrated into the current peso series," the central bank said in a statement. It did not directly refer to the rising pressures of inflation or say when the new note would enter the market. Reporting by Eliana Raszewski; Additional reporting by Walter Bianchi; Editing by Andrea RicciOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Analysis: Argentina's Vaca Muerta shale boom is running out of road
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Eliana Raszewski | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

[1/4] Workers stand next to a drilling rig in Vaca Muerta shale oil and gas drilling, in the Patagonian province of Neuquen, Argentina November 3, 2022. It holds the world's second-largest shale gas reserves and the fourth-largest shale oil deposits. Reuters Graphics'ABOUT TO COLLAPSE'On the ground in the key Vaca Muerta shale town of Anelo the signs of strain are clear. Local and regional demand is not enough," said Ricardo Markous, president of Tecpetrol, which operates the huge Fortin de Piedra field in Vaca Muerta. There are currently around eight active fracking crews in Vaca Muerta compared to nearly 280 in the United States, Rystad said.

☆ IMF, Argentina reach funding agreement that could unlock $6 bln
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BUENOS AIRES, Dec 2 (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Friday it has reached a agreement with Argentine authorities on a third review under its Extended Fund Facility Arrangement, which could give the South American country access to around $6 billion. The IMF said in a statement the staff-level agreement remained subject to approval by its executive board, expected to meet this month. The fund said the country was presenting a prudent macroeconomic management and efforts to mobilize external financing. IMF said its program objectives remain unchanged during the remainder of 2022 and 2023, and highlighted the importance of "continued decisive policy implementation" as domestic and external environments become more challenging. Latin America's third largest economy signed an agreement with IMF in March to refinance a debt for $44 billion, a deal that set targets around the country's central bank reserves and the financing of the fiscal deficit.

☆ Argentines take to the streets to celebrate World Cup win over Australia
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BUENOS AIRES, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Jubilant fans celebrated across Argentina after the country defeated Australia on Saturday and advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Messi, who played his 1,000th game on Saturday, opened the scoring against Australia and played a key role in Argentina reaching the quarterfinals. "We have to stay united, we took one more step and now comes a difficult one," said Messi, 35, the captain of the team who is playing his fifth World Cup. Argentina fans, some of whom even put off buying homes to see Messi play in the World Cup, hope the country will win the third World Cup. Argentina won its first world championship at home in 1978 and its second in Mexico in 1986, where Diego Maradona was a key player.

☆ Argentina's YPF could raise debt in 2023 to back Vaca Muerta push, source says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Eliana Raszewski | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Companies Ypf Sa FollowBUENOS AIRES, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Argentina's YPF (YPFD.BA) could make a return to debt markets next year, a company source said on Friday, as the state energy firm looks to spur growth in the country's huge Vaca Muerta shale region. YPF leads development of Vaca Muerta, a Belgium-sized formation in Patagonia's Neuquen province, which could in a few years help the country reverse a multi-billion dollar energy deficit and become a net energy exporter, analysts say. YPF is likely to invest a bit over $5 billion next year, up from $4.1 billion this year, according to the source. Looking to benefit from gas exports, YPF in September signed a deal with Malaysia's Petronas to advance a new pipeline set to link Vaca Muerta with a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant. "Once the law is in place, the confidentiality agreement ends and the two parties will meet with the Vaca Muerta gas producers."

☆ Argentina government to send LNG bill to Congress in coming months
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nov 24 (Reuters) - Argentina's Economy minister Sergio Massa said on Thursday that the government was readying a liquefied natural gas (LNG) bill to send to Congress in the coming months, amid a push to create a major gas export sector in the country. The bill aims to spur the multi-billion-dollar investments needed to exploit Argentina's massive LNG reserves, as the war in Ukraine spikes global demand. Companies like state-owned YPF (YPFD.BA) have shown interest in building plants to liquify gas from Argentina's vast Vaca Muerta shale basin, the world's second largest unconventional gas reserve and the fourth largest shale oil reserve. Massa told business leaders that he hoped Congress would discuss the LNG bill in coming extended or extraordinary sessions, and that the government would also announce a series of decrees to accompany the bill. Amid a prolonged financial crisis and a series of market regulations imposed by the center-left government, companies have asked the government to provide certainty that LNG export commitments will be honored once the expensive LNG plants are built.

☆ Argentina agrees $5 bln China currency swap extension, President says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BUENOS AIRES, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Argentina has agreed to expand its currency swap deal with China by $5 billion, the South American country's President Alberto Fernandez said on Tuesday, a move that would give it more firepower to defend the embattled local peso. Reporting by Eliana Raszewski; Writing by Adam JourdanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Argentina to freeze prices of 1,500 consumer goods as inflation bites
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Nicolás Misculin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BUENOS AIRES, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Argentina's government announced a deal on Friday with supermarkets and suppliers of mass consumer goods to freeze or tightly regulate prices of some 1,500 products, in an attempt to contain inflation that is estimated to reach 100% this year. The Economy Ministry said in a formal decree that a new "Fair Prices" program, covering consumer goods from food and beverages to cleaning products, would help to "stabilize the prices of products in favor of the consumer". The rise in food prices is barbaric, and we are looking at a brutal December," said one protester, Monica Sulle. Sebastian Martino said many more people were now coming to soup kitchens, unable to afford the price of food. Reporting by Nicolas Misculin and Reuters TV; Editing by Eliana Raszewski and Angus MacSwanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Argentina's replaces three ministers amid economic crisis, puts more women in power
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BUENOS AIRES, 10 Oct (Reuters) - Argentine President Alberto Fernandez on Monday again reshuffled his Cabinet and appointed three women to lead the labor, social development and women's ministries, as a deep economic crisis has sparked weeks of protests. Ayelen Mazzina, current secretary of Women, Diversity and Equality of San Luis province, will take over as the new minister of Women, Gender and Diversity. She will replace Elizabeth Gomez Alcorta who resigned after opposing the eviction of a group of indigenous Mapuche women from land in the southern Patagonia region. The latest Cabinet changes come less than three months after the government reshuffled the economic ministries, naming Sergio Massa to be Argentina's economy "superminister" in an attempt to contain the worsening economic crisis. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Eliana Raszewski; Editing by Marguerita ChoyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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