Hit by five years of economic slowdown, Latin America's economy will grow by barely 0.5% this year, the United Nations economic commission for the region said on Wednesday, well below the 1.3% projected in April.
While the US State Department again called Tuesday on Argentina 'to normalize relations with all its bondholders’, the government of President Cristina Fernandez deposited a 161 million dollars bond interest payment with a newly appointed local trustee on Tuesday, defying a U.S. judge who held Argentina in contempt of court on Monday for taking illegal steps to meet its debt obligations.
Hernán Lorenzino, 39, currently Finance Secretary and beginning next Saturday Argentina’s Minister of Economy is considered market friendly, has a vast experience in debt negotiations and accompanied President Cristina Fernandez in her recent trip to the G20 summit in France.
Economy Minister Amado Boudou said that the Argentine Government “will not accept any conditions” on its economic policies, allegedly rejecting an eventual revision of its accounts by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).