
An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission led by Mr. Roberto Cardarelli visited Argentina during February 11–22, 2019 to conduct discussions on the Third Review of Argentina’s IMF-supported program under the Stand-By Arrangement (SBA). Talks continued in Washington DC after the end of the mission.

Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit plans were thrown into further turmoil on Monday when the speaker of parliament ruled that she could not put her divorce deal to a new vote unless it was re-submitted in a fundamentally different form.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro arrived in Washington on Sunday to meet with his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump, and cement a conservative-populist alliance that, in part, aims to ramp up pressure on Venezuela.

Germany's two biggest lenders, Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank, will hold formal talks about a merger. The announcement caps months of speculation that the two struggling banks would attempt to combine.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will travel to Italy, Monaco and France this week, the foreign ministry said on Monday, with Rome expected to join his global trade infrastructure program despite reservations in other European countries.

Argentina’s central bank wants to license market makers to help stabilize its embattled peso currency when the Treasury starts newly announced dollar sales in April. The bank hopes the market makers, dealers who agree to buy and sell at set prices, would bolster liquidity in the exchange market to help avoid the sharp gyrations the peso has suffered in recent weeks when it hit a record low of 42.5 pesos per dollar in thin trading.

A major advisor to energy producing nations has suggested that the continued fallout from Venezuela could present a challenge for global oil markets. The International Energy Agency (IEA) has warned that crude supplies from Venezuela are at risk of falling sharply in the midst of an electricity crisis which has paralyzed the country recently.

China's rubber-stamp parliament approved a foreign investment law on Friday that was fast-tracked and may serve as an olive branch in trade talks with the United States. The legislation aims to address long-running grievances from foreign businesses, but the US and European chambers of commerce have voiced concerns that they were not given enough time to give their input.

Argentina’s stubbornly high inflation accelerated again in February, the government said on Thursday, sparking the central bank chief to pledge new measures to rein in rising prices that have dogged the South American economy over the last year.

European Council President Donald Tusk has said he will appeal to EU leaders “to be open to a long extension” of the Brexit deadline, if the UK needs to rethink its strategy and get consensus. His intervention came as UK MPs voted to seek a delay of the 29 March deadline to leave the EU. EU leaders meet in Brussels on 21 March and they would have the final say.