MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina officially in recession: economy sinks 3.5% in third quarter

The hardest hit sectors were business (down 8.9%), fishing (down 7.3%) and manufacturing (down 6.6%). However finance was up by 5.1%

Argentina is in recession after its economy shrank by 3.5% during the third trimester of 2018, the state statistics bureau said on Tuesday. It was the second such shrinkage in a row after the economy shrank 4.0% in the second quarter, with respect to the same period a year ago.

Gross domestic product is down by 1.4% from January to September compared with 2017.

The hardest hit sectors were business (down 8.9%), fishing (down 7.3%) and manufacturing (down 6.6%). However finance was up by 5.1%.

Argentina has been gripped by an economic crisis this year that forced President Mauricio Macri to agree a US$ 56 billion bailout loan with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

It came as confidence in the peso crumbled, sending the currency into a freefall that saw it lose half its value against the dollar. A huge crop which was expected to ease the pain failed as climate, out of time rains and drought, reduced volumes to half.

The IMF predicts that Argentina's economy will shrink by 2.6% this year and another 1.6% in 2019.