Argentina's budget proposal submitted this week is a key element in the reforms needed for a new loan package for the crisis-hit country, an International Monetary Fund spokesman said Thursday.
The Argentine stock market is booming and on Thursday confirmed its seventh day running increase as investors are flocking encouraged by an imminent accord between the president Mauricio Macri administration and the IMF for a new loan package including reforms and a balanced budget in the next 18/24 months.
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.
The International Monetary Fund has warned that a no-deal Brexit on World Trade Organization terms would entail substantial costs for the UK economy. IMF said that all likely Brexit scenarios would entail costs, but a disorderly departure could lead to a significantly worse outcome.
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.
Officials from the International Monetary Fund are in Argentina as part of talks to strengthen and accelerate a crisis loan package, the global lender said Wednesday. The IMF and Buenos Aires agreed in June on a three-year, US$50 billion rescue lending programme but Argentina has since asked for a more rapid disbursement.
Argentina's central bank kept its key interest rate on Wednesday at 60%, one of the highest in the world, following a surprise hike two weeks ago after the peso plunged. Central bank officials said in a statement that inflation accelerated in August and continues to do so September, citing high-frequency data.
Argentine equities and the peso both lost ground on Monday as analysts said intervention in the foreign exchange market by the nation's central bank may prove less successful than originally hoped.
The International Monetary Fund said on Thursday it aimed to wrap up talks to “strengthen” a US$ 50 billion backup financing deal with Argentina “as rapidly as possible,” as the country's peso and stocks climbed for a second straight day.
The Brazilian Real slumped on Monday as mounting concerns over this year's presidential election added to global risk aversion, while the Argentine peso extended a recent sell-off that also spread into stock markets in Latin America.