Government extends sovereign bond holding period
Argentina’s National Securities Commission has modified the term that investors must keep Argentine sovereign bonds in their portfolio. Since they are traded in pesos and dollars, sovereign bond operations are one of the few ways to freely access the dollar in Argentina today. Until yesterday, the holding period for sovereign bonds was two days for securities issued under both Argentine and foreign law. Argentine sovereign bonds under Argentine law: one day of parkingArgentine sovereign bonds under foreign law: three parking daysArgentine sovereign bonds are used to access the U.S. dollar. The blue-chip swap rate is important because of the brecha – the exchange “gap” with the official dollar exchange rate.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
April 11, 2023 18:55 UTC
Agro dollar kicks off with hopes for US$5 billion in 45 days
Looking ahead, government projections estimate that an extra US$4 billion from regional economies will be liquidated from now until August (regional economies in Argentina include producers of traditional products such as yerba mate, wines, citrus, rice, tea, and wood.) “Generally speaking, more than US$5 billion could come in, as indicated by companies in the sector. “The question remains about what will happen after May 24, because if we take into consideration what happened with the two previous versions of the soybean dollar rate, soybean sales contracted monumentally after the differential exchange rate ended, which resulted in a smaller income of dollars. This is why the scope of the measure regarding regional economies is still being defined. In any case, all the exporting sectors of regional economies approve of this measure, which may speed up exports and also boost the Central Bank’s reserves.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
April 10, 2023 20:55 UTC
Income tax changes to benefit 600,000 workers
Around 600,000 workers will receive up to 16% more take-home pay after Economy Minister Sergio Massa and the General Confederation of Labour (CGT) trade union federation agreed that some kinds of pay would no longer count towards the income tax threshold. The agreement means that formally employed workers in a variety of professions will no longer have to pay the tax because they will fall below the threshold. Economy Ministry sources did not respond to requests from the Herald to confirm the details. In Argentina, the threshold for paying income tax is AR$ 404,062 per month. At present, an estimated 12% of workers pay it.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
April 10, 2023 19:01 UTC
Dengue kills 14 and infects nearly 30,000 across Argentina
At least 14 people have died from dengue fever in Argentina this year, the Health Ministry reported on Friday. There have been 28,235 confirmed cases of the disease in 13 provinces and Buenos Aires City since the start of 2023. The disease is circulating in Buenos Aires province, Buenos Aires City, Córdoba, Entre Ríos, Santa Fe, Corrientes, Formosa, Chaco, Catamarca, Jujuy, La Rioja, Salta, Santiago del Estero, and Tucumán. Buenos Aires City and Buenos Aires province follow suit, with 3,313 and 2,381 cases respectively. The deaths were registered in Salta (4), Santa Fe (4), Tucumán (3), Buenos Aires province (1), Santiago del Estero (1), and Jujuy (1).
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
April 08, 2023 23:17 UTC
Police search bus passengers after driver assassination
The Buenos Aires Provincial Police is searching male bus passengers across the province after bus driver Daniel Barrientos, 65, was murdered on Monday at dawn while working. They then frisk them, demand ID, and search their backpacks, news footage and videos taken by neighbors show. Barrientos, a 620 line driver, was shot dead while driving his bus in the neighborhood of Vernazza in Virrey del Pino, on the outskirts of Buenos Aires City. Barrientos’ assassination sparked rage among colleagues, who went out onto the streets to protest insecurity. During one of the operations, a bus driver told C5N news channel that the place where the operations were being carried out was not appropriate.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
April 08, 2023 20:56 UTC
Chile enacts controversial laws amid police killings
Chile on Thursday signed new laws and allocated US$1.5 billion to fight crime amid skyrocketing perceptions of insecurity and a day after the third police officer in less than a month was killed on duty. The measures include criminalizing extortion as well as increased penalties for kidnapping and some instances of firearm possession. Chile’s police force has faced human rights abuse accusations following a heavy-handed crackdown of the violent 2019 protests against inequality. Polls show voters largely disapprove of the government’s handling of crime and Boric has since hardened his stance. Palma is the third police officer to be killed on duty in less than a month, sparking public backlash.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
April 08, 2023 06:14 UTC
Bus strike lifted following release of two drivers
The bus drivers’ union (UTA) lifted a strike after two of their colleagues were released today. They had been detained and continue under investigation for their alleged involvement in Monday’s violent attack on Buenos Aires province’s security minister, Sergio Berni. Bus drivers Jorge Oscar Galiano and Jorge Ezequiel Zerda were detained and their company offices raided on Thursday morning. Previously, Buenos Aires Province’s Justice and Human Rights minister, Julio Alak, also filed a lawsuit against them. “They tell me it was a joint operation between Buenos Aires City and Buenos Aires Province’s police departments.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
April 08, 2023 02:57 UTC
Security minister attack: drivers strike following arrests
Bus drivers from eight lines in the outskirts of Buenos Aires have organized a spontaneous strike after two of their colleagues were arrested late on Wednesday night over their alleged involvement in Monday’s violent attack on provincial security minister Sergio Berni. “The strike will go on until our colleagues are released and the murderers of our colleague Daniel are identified,” Luis Gómez, a line 620 driver taking part in the strike, told Télam. Although Berni did not press charges against the drivers, Buenos Aires Province’s Justice and Human Rights minister, Julio Alak, filed a lawsuit against them. Their detention was ordered by Buenos Aires City Judge Luisa María Escrich. Sergio Berni, of ruling coalition Frente de Todos, was appointed Buenos Aires Province Security Minister in 2019, when Axel Kicillof became governor of the province.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
April 07, 2023 09:24 UTC
Mixed reactions from governors and business leaders to "agro dollar" III
Yesterday afternoon Economy Minister Sergio Massa announced a new “agro dollar” exchange rate, which aims to boost agricultural exports and strengthen international reserve accumulation. “The new exchange rate will allow producers to have more income and open to new markets,” said the Chubut governor Mariano Arcioni. The Argentina Wine Corporation (COVIAR) also supported the announcement and stated through a release that “all wine producers benefited from the differential exchange rate”. For a limited time, agricultural producers can export soybeans, other soy products, and regional agricultural produce at a beneficial exchange rate of AR$300 to the dollar. The official exchange rate is currently AR$214 to the dollar.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
April 06, 2023 21:27 UTC
GDP-linked bonds: Argentina to appeal London court ruling
Argentina will appeal the London High Court’s unfavorable ruling related to GDP-linked securities — if unsuccessful, the country faces a 1.33 billion-euro (US$1.46 billion) plus interest fine. Two sources with access to the case who asked not to be identified told the Herald that Argentina has to ask Judge Simon Picken, who issued today’s ruling, for permission to appeal. In the event that both the judge and the Chamber reject Argentina’s appeal requests, Argentina will have to pay US$1.46 billion, plus interest. During the restructuring negotiation process in 2005, Argentina offered new securities with a haircut of about 70% of the principal. In 2014, Argentina changed the formula to calculate its GDP using data from a 2004 census.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
April 06, 2023 11:25 UTC
Minimum wage to rise 27% by June
Minimum wage increases approved by the Minimum Vital and Mobile Salary Council last week were published in the Official Bulletin today. Paid in three monthly increases, the minimum salary will rise by 26.6% by June 1 compared with current levels, but economists say it is falling far behind Argentina’s racing inflation, which hit 102.5% in February. On April 1, the minimum wage will rise to AR$80,342 (US$386.59 at the official exchange rate or US$213.45 at the MEP rate) and AR$401.71 per hour for day laborers. He added that the minimum wage had shrunk in proportion to the basic basket of goods compared with 2015. The payments for social programs such as Potenciar Trabajo are a percentage of the minimum wage, so increasing the minimum wage leads to increased state spending.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
March 29, 2023 03:43 UTC
Netflix announces upcoming Argentine series and films
According to the study, more than two-thirds of spending for films or series made in Argentina are reinvested in other sectors, such as hotel accommodation and transport. Netflix also emphasized that every AR$ 10 million invested directly in the audiovisual result in an additional 19 million. “Telling local stories is very important for Netflix, and few countries have an audiovisual industry like Argentina,” said Ramos. As for films, Netflix will co-produce Descansar en paz with Ricardo Darin’s production company, Kenya Films. Also coming to the platform are most of the Argentine filmmaker Pablo Trapero’s films as remastered versions, including El Bonaerense, White Elephant, Carancho, Lion’s Den, Born and Bred, Rolling Family, and Crane World.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
March 29, 2023 03:40 UTC
Opposition to file writ against public sector debt swap
Patricia Bullrich, head of right-wing opposition party PRO, has instructed PRO deputies to file a protective action against the decrees requiring public sector bondholders to shed debt in dollars and switch it to pesos. The writ describes the debt swap as “objectively and factually ruinous”, calling it “new borrowing disguised as a swap” on the grounds that the decrees establishing the swap do not specify whether the foreign law bonds that enter the treasury will be reabsorbed. On that basis, the writ argues that under Argentine law debt cannot be issued by decree and requires the prior approval of congress. The blue-chip swap rate, also known as contado con liqui or CCL, is used in the financial world as a way to get dollars. According to the writ, the debt swap puts state pensions at risk by failing to safeguard the funding of the Sustainability Guarantee Fund (FGS), a sovereign investment fund that is part of Argentina’s social security system.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
March 28, 2023 09:47 UTC
Macri announces he will not run for president
With just 90 days before the deadline to confirm his candidacy, former president Mauricio Macri announced that he will not run for president in a 5-minute video this morning. In his video, he also praised his 2015-2019 administration, criticizing President Alberto Fernández’s administration. “’Never again’ will we be represented by a puppet,’ he said in referene to Fernández, who was selected by Vice President Cristina Kirchner to run for president in May 2019. “Never Again” or “Nunca Más” is a motto used by Argentina’s human rights movement calling for the horrors of the last military dictatorship to never be repeated. Macri stepping down from the presidential race without explicitly supporting any of the Juntos por el Cambio presidential candidates specifically, he leaves the game open for them to run against each other in the August primaries.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
March 27, 2023 03:19 UTC
Blue-chip swap rate hit record 408 pesos: what analysts think
The blue-chip dollar swap rate peaked at a record AR$408 on Friday, its highest nominal value ever, before closing at AR403.57, up by more than 10 pesos (3%) in the last three days of the week. The blue-chip swap rate, also known as contado con liqui or CCL, is used exclusively in the financial world. It is obtained by investors buying shares and financial instruments in pesos and selling them in dollars on the international market. In this context, the report’s authors predict that the Central Bank will have to tighten capital controls “over the next months”. The Central Bank participates in a committee that makes such analyses but does not make its conclusions public.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
March 18, 2023 22:23 UTC