Boris Johnson is to make the first visit by a British foreign secretary to Argentina for 25 years. Mr. Johnson will seek to take advantage of the improvement in relations with Buenos Aires since President Mauricio Macri came to power in 2015.President Macri has talked of lifting curbs on oil, fishing and shipping around the Falkland Islands as tensions eased.
The International Monetary Fund will move quickly to agree on a loan program to support Argentina but there are no details yet on what it will entail, a fund spokesman said on Thursday. However spokesperson Gerry Rice also underlined that the IMF nowadays has a greater focus on social protection, in particular towards the most vulnerable, ensuring the economy and living standards.
The recent rise of the dollar in Argentina had some impact in Uruguay, where it has an accumulation of 7.4% in May. However, for the president of the Central Bank of Uruguay, Mario Bergara, the escalation only owes 20% to the exchange rate in Argentina and rather considers that Uruguay is accompanying global trends.
Argentina’s central bank on Tuesday rolled over billions of dollars in short-term debt, providing President Mauricio Macri’s government with a shot of confidence after weeks of economic volatility. In a statement, the Argentine central bank said it refinanced all of the US$ 26 billion of peso-denominated short term bonds that matured on Tuesday. Investors were attracted by renewal rates of 40% for 36-day Lebac and 38% and 38,5% for 90 days and plus, Lebacs.
The Argentine Peso plummeted to a new low on Monday despite government attempts to curb losses in recent weeks by hiking interest rates and shedding billions in foreign reserves. The Peso fell sharply on opening Monday and closed down 6.2%, trading at 25.52 against the dollar, having lost close to 33% so far this year.
High interest rates will have a negative impact on activity, and the weaker peso resulting from a floating exchange rate regime will add to already sky-high inflation, but both are necessary to prevent a deeper crisis, Argentine Treasury Minister Nicolas Dujovne admitted on Monday.
Argentina has much in common with yesterday's emerging markets, but little in common with today's
Argentina’s central bank sold US$1.1 billion in the foreign exchange market on Friday and the peso weakened 2.74% to an all-time closing low of 23.35 per U.S. dollar despite talks aimed at securing an International Monetary Fund financing deal.
Argentine equities rallied on Thursday, while the country's peso currency was stable, as the central bank sold foreign currency reserves in the spot market for the first time since the country announced it was seeking financing from the IMF.
International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde said on Thursday she is ready to aid Argentina and wants talks on a financing package to be finalized quickly. Lagarde said she instructed the IMF team to continue discussions on a loan program with the goal to “reach a rapid conclusion.”