
Argentina's Lower House Speaker Sergio Massa Wednesday denied rumors that he would take over as Economy Minister but that President Alberto Fernández was delaying the announcement until the incumbent Silvina Batakis returned from her US mission.

By Andrés Velasco (*) - Argentine voters are no strangers to financial turmoil, but they keep electing politicians who run large fiscal deficits and finance them by printing pesos. Could it be that the only way for politicians to show they want to save the economy is to destroy it first?

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has approved a credit line worth US$ 1140 million for energy investments and vowed to keep reviewing CEO Mauricio Claver-Carone's decision to halt a separate disbursement of over US$ 800 million to a country with such a credit record.

For the fourth time running since March the United States Federal Reserve on Wednesday increased benchmark interest rates 75 basis points to its highest level since 2018, in yet another significant effort to contain inflation which is running at a forty-year high of 9,1%, but at the same time avoiding a recession.

Argentina's monetary authorities Tuesday announced the creation of the “agrodollar,” a special exchange rate for agrifood exporters to liquidate their revenues through formal channels at an exchange rate closer to the parallel (“blue”) quotation.

United States public opinion is turning its back on president Joe Biden's administration since over three quarters believe is doing a poor job in handling the US economy according to a CNN/SSRS poll.

Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou Tuesday announced his administration would seek to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in its current form and that, to that end, he will seek endorsement from all political parties.

The unofficial exchange rate between the US dollar (also known as “blue”) and the Argentina peso fell between AR$ 16 and 17 Monday after Economy Minister Silvina Batakis met in Washington DC with International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and the World Bank agreed on a US$ 200 million loan to boost the country's coffers.

After meeting Monday with members of a Chinese delegation who are in Montevideo since Saturday, Uruguayan Foreign Minister Francisco Bustillo said he hoped the other members of Mercosur would soon join the Free Trade Agreement negotiations because the Asian giant was “open to cooperation both with Mercosur and with the particular member country.”

Hardline Kirchnerite Senator Juliana Di Tullio has demanded Argentine police play a deeper role in chasing currency exchange parlors where US dollars are traded at the unofficial “blue” rate of around AR$ 337.