In an attempt to stop the drain of Argentina Central Bank international reserves, the government of President Cristina Fernandez has decided to take the 20% income tax advance to 35% for all credit and debit card purchases made abroad. The move will also involve the purchase of dollars for Argentines travelling abroad with the US currency climbing now to 8.322 pesos.
The dispute between the Argentine government and Repsol over the seizure of a 51% stake in petroleum company YPF has shown some signs of cooling, with the Ministry of Economy announcing on Monday that an agreement in principle for compensating the Spanish corporation had been reached.
Fiat Argentina CEO Cristiano Rattazzi said that Argentina is on fire because of inflation and called on the newly appointed cabinet chief Jorge Capitanich and Economy minister Axel Kicillof to work hard to bring inflation down.
In an emotional but brief (eleven minutes) ceremony Argentine President Cristina Fernandez, on Wednesday late evening, was back on stage at the Casa Rosada, the first time since she underwent cranium surgery six weeks ago, for the oath-taking ceremony of three new top officials who will be decisive ministers in the last two years of her second mandate.
On Tuesday, one day after resuming her Executive duties, Argentine president Cristina Fernandez accepted the resignation of the most emblematic of the Kirchner-couple bullying tactics, a true 'K soldier' who has been on the job since 2005 and was expected to step down with the lady in 2015.
The administration of Argentine President Cristina Fernández announced on Monday a major cabinet reshuffle naming Chaco governor Jorge Capitanich as new cabinet chief and Axel Kicillof Economy minister while the Central bank will have a new president, Carlos Fabrega.
The administration of President Cristina Fernandez is preparing a package of measures in an attempt to further impede the outflow of hard currency, mainly US dollars, for which it is planning to establish a double exchange rate system. The measures target tourism, a bill of 8 billion dollars which has become dearer than the energy deficit.
Argentine officials publicly stated on Thursday there was no intention of expelling any commercial airline from the country because Aerolineas Argentinas is working well, but called on Latam to help the Argentine flag carrier with reciprocity in Chile and Brazil.
An Argentine judge on Wednesday granted an injunction blocking the eviction of LAN Argentina, a unit of Chile-based LATAM Airlines Group, from its hangar at Buenos Aires Jorge Newbery Airport, which handles domestic and regional flights.
LAN Chile halted on Friday all its flights in Argentina until Saturday morning after the state company Intercargo which provides ground support for the airline, unilaterally decided to cancel the service despite court orders to the contrary.