The credit rating agency Fitch lowered the prospects for Argentine sovereign debt to negative, arguing the overall weakness of the economy and an uncertain scenario for fiscal consolidation in coming years.
Argentine president Mauricio Macri is in New York where he is scheduled to address the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, but will also be holding a round of talks with business leaders and potential investors, plus granting interviews to key media outlets.
Argentina’s central bank now sees the Peso at an equilibrium level, chief Luis Caputo told market participants who attended a meeting with him on Thursday. The statement comes after two days of strengthening by the peso following a rout that sent it to a record intra-day low in late August.
Argentina’s central bank sold US$ 261 million in reserves on Tuesday, the monetary authority said in a statement announcing its latest intervention in the foreign exchange market aimed at easing the fall of the local currency.
Argentina's peso currency fell 3.51% on Thursday to close at a new record low of 39.9 per U.S. dollar, as market confidence ebbs away despite President Mauricio Macri's efforts to reassure investors. Dollar demand had risen on Thursday due to high liquidity sparked by an auction of treasury notes, traders said.
President Mauricio Macri unveiled plans on Monday to raise export taxes on grains and slash the number of government ministries in a bid to balance its budget next year, as Argentina seeks a deal with the IMF to accelerate a US$ 50 billion standby loan program.
Argentina’s economy contracted 6.7% in June compared with the same month last year, and 1.3% compared with May, government statistics agency Indec said on Thursday. June was the third consecutive month of decline following 5.2% in May and 0.6% in April.
Argentina sold US$2.1 billion in three and six-month treasury notes, the Treasury Ministry said on Wednesday, as it seeks to direct investors away from shorter-term central bank debt and into longer duration instruments. The amount sold represented more than double the US$ 1 billion in dollar-denominated treasury notes that mature on Friday.
Argentina's economy shrank 5.8% in May versus the same month last year, government statistics agency Indec said on Tuesday, the second straight month of declines in a sign of looming recession and a possible GDP contraction in 2018.
Argentina posted a primary fiscal deficit of 105.8 billion pesos (US$3.7 billion), or 0.8% of gross domestic product (GDP) in the first half of 2018, government data showed on Thursday, down 26.7% from the same period last year.