
Argentine President Mauricio Macri on Wednesday unveiled a package of welfare subsidies and tax cuts for lower-income workers to lessen the impact of an economic crisis just months before a re-election bid, but his announcement did not halt the peso currency's collapse.

Argentina's peso slipped further against the dollar Tuesday while the stock market partially recovered as South America's third-largest economy continued to take a pummeling in the wake of pro-business President Mauricio Macri's crushing defeat in party primaries.

By Héctor Torres (*) for Financial Times - Argentina went to the polls on Sunday to choose the candidates in the presidential election to be held on October 27. However, there were no competing candidates as all the main parties only presented one option.

Argentina's president Mauricio Macri vowed on Monday to win a second term despite a surprisingly strong performance by the opposition in the primary election that set off a shockwave through markets, crashing the peso currency and sending stocks and bonds tumbling.

President Mauricio Macri suffered a crushing defeat as Argentines voted in party primaries on Sunday ahead of October's general election. Given that all of the recession-hit country's major parties have already chosen their presidential candidates, the primaries effectively served as a nationwide pre-election opinion poll.

Argentines are facing what is probably the tightest presidential race since the return of the country’s democracy in 1983 with conservative President Mauricio Macri facing an opposition ticket including ex-President Cristina Fernández, and the primary elections Sunday are expected to provide a hint of who might win October’s vote.

Ahead of Sunday's primaries' mandatory vote, The Economist published the following on Argentine president Macri's chances of reelection, in what seems a very tight competition with Kirchnerism.

Argentina’s election primary on Sunday will determine President Mauricio Macri’s chances of winning a second term in October, with the country’s embattled peso currency expected to take a fresh beating next week if the business-friendly does not accomplish as expected.

Public opinion polls in Argentina show a very close, polarized race between President Mauricio Macri and opposition candidate Alberto Fernandez before next Sunday's PASO primaries which are Open, Simultaneous and Mandatory, and most important a clear anticipation of what could happen in October's presidential election.

Standard & Poor's (S&P) confirmed it would maintain its 'B' rating for Argentine debt, highlighting that the president Mauricio Macri administration was continuing to meet the goals laid out by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as part of the huge credit line agreed last year.