Argentina's primary deficit fell to 1.1% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) between January and September this year, compared to 2.1% over the same period in 2017, the Finance Ministry announced on Monday.
The Ministry posted a deficit of 22.9 billion pesos (US$ 622 million) in September, bringing the total deficit to 153 billion pesos (US$ 28 billion) in the first nine months of 2018.
The figures put the Argentine government on track to beat its 2.6% 2018 deficit target set earlier in the year, Treasury Minister Nicolás Dujovne said at a press conference, adding that it offered improved hopes the government would meet its target for the next calendar year.
The government intends to post a zero deficit in 2019, in line with commitments made by the Mauricio Macri administration in order to secure a credit loan worth US$ 57.1 billion with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
“In the first nine months of the year, spending contracted seven percent when compared to the same period last year. We are at the lowest level of government spending since 2012,” Dujovne told reporters in Buenos Aires.
Top Comments
Disclaimer & comment rulesEnrique will cheer for Macri if he just shows he can return Argentina to the economic conditions existing in December 2015.
Oct 23rd, 2018 - 08:53 pm +2But, but, but, what were the economic conditions existing in December 2015?
Nobody knows, because the then INDEC told us, that inflación was below 10 per cent, thus demonstrating how much we can trust any declaration of Argentine nacional economy dating before Macri took over.
What we DO know is, that the number of Kirchnerist cronies who only showed up at work to collect their salaries on ñoquis day was counted in the hundred thousands, thus artificially upkeeping the economy.
But, but, but, this is horrible!
Oct 23rd, 2018 - 12:49 pm +1What shall poor Enrique do, if Macri's tough line of austerity ends up improving the Argentine economy to the extent that poverty will be almost extinct?
Ah, but of course, Macri causes EXTINCTION to hit Argentina.
But Reekie keeps saying that the economy is a complete disaster and only getting worse! As I have said before, this isn't true and some economic indicators are improving. The deficit is one of them and it has been trending in a positive direction since 2016.
Oct 24th, 2018 - 07:53 pm 0https://tradingeconomics.com/argentina/government-budget
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