China's president on Sunday signed new trade deals with Argentina as the Asian giant expands its growing role in Latin American economies. Presidents Mauricio Macri of Argentina and Xi Jinping of China announced the more than 30 agriculture and investment deals during a state visit following the Group of 20 summit of leaders in Buenos Aires.
Argentina on Monday will pay the $5.9 billion maturity due for its Boden 15 bonds in cash and issue new debt the following day, Economy Minister Axel Kicillof said on Friday. Argentina which is in technical default on some debt because of a legal fight with bondholders in the United States, targets raising $500 million in the auction of notes under Argentine law, Kicillof told a news conference.
Argentina's central bank bought 630 million of dollars on the local currency market on Tuesday in one of its largest-ever purchases, a move that will bolster the country's precariously low hard currency reserves. Some 500 million of the dollars purchased were proceeds from last week's 1.5 billion auction of bonds by state energy company YPF.
Argentina will not end its controls restricting access to foreign currency in the near term, Central Bank President Alejandro Vanoli was quoted as saying in an interview published on Sunday in the government supported newspaper Pagina 12.
China has knocked the US from its top spot as the world's biggest net importer of oil, US government data shows. The country's fast-growing economy, as well as the rise in car sales, has led to its new status, according to September's data. Oil consumption in China had outstripped production by 6.3 million barrels a day, said the Energy Information Administration (EIA). In the US, the figure was 6.1 million.