July 23, 2022

ARGENTINA: Big Demonstration In Buenos Aires Against Soaring Cost Of Living. Inflation Reached 64%, Unheard Of For Almost Thirty Years. Economy Minister Will Meet With Head Of IMF On Monday.

International Business Times
written by Walter Bianchi
Friday July 22, 2022

Argentina's debt sank deeper into distressed territory on Friday, in just the latest week of sour financial news led by a battered currency, highlighting growing doubts about the near-term prospects for Latin America's third biggest economy.

The peso currency hit fresh record lows this week on a daily basis, trading in the parallel black market at nearly 350 per U.S. dollar on Friday, down nearly 4% from the previous day, according to private traders.

So-called over-the-counter sovereign debt slipped 1.1% overall on Friday, fueled by persistent investor doubts, even as yields for the benchmark Bonar 2030 bond exceeded 40% after its value tumbled 2.1%.

"The bonds are at default levels," said one trader.

On the political front, bad luck compounded the situation as the White House canceled a scheduled meeting next Tuesday between U.S. President Joe Biden and his Argentine counterpart Alberto Fernandez, due to the former leader's recent COVID-19 diagnosis.

Newly-installed Finance Minister Silvina Batakis has so far failed to calm anxious markets, despite her commitment to follow through with the country's current debt deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Iran Says Saudi Ready To Move Reconciliation Talks To Higher Level "The government is trying to do the bare minimum to preserve the IMF agreement, showing some fiscal restraint, a timid rate hike, a faster depreciation pace, more financial repression and import controls," according to a BTG Pactual research note published on Friday.

In a bid to boost dwindling U.S. dollar reserves, the government announced on Thursday a plan to allow foreign tourists to exchange greenbacks at a significantly higher rate than previously available.

Due to a widening exchange rate gap with the official, tightly-controlled rate, much of the hard currency brought in by tourists never enters central bank coffers.

Currently, U.S. dollars are worth more than twice their value in pesos in the black market versus the official rate.
Reuters News
reporting by Eliana Raszewski; editing by Marcelo Rochabrun and Grant McCool
Saturday July 23, 2022

BUENOS AIRES - Argentina's newly appointed economy minister Silvina Batakis will meet on Monday with the head of the International Monetary Fund in Washington, the government said, as Argentina's economy struggles with spiraling inflation.

Argentina is the IMF's largest debtor with a $44 billion program that was approved by the board in late March. Argentina's peso currency also fell to record lows this week, weighed down by a stronger dollar worldwide and a domestic political crisis.

Batakis was appointed less than a month ago after her predecessor Martin Guzman, the architect of the debt deal with the IMF, abruptly resigned with inflation running at over 60% a year and expected to continue rising.

Batakis, who has said she will respect the IMF accord, will meet IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva. They have already spoken by phone in what Georgieva described on Twitter as a "very good call." read more

Argentine President Alberto Fernandez was scheduled to travel to Washington as well to meet with U.S. President Joe Biden, but the meeting was canceled after Biden contracted COVID-19.

Batakis is also set to meet with representatives of the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the World Bank, the government said.
Telegraph Online News, India local
written by The Editorial Board
Thursday July 21, 2022

Many more — from Argentina to Pakistan to a growing list of African nations, including Ghana, Kenya, Tunisia and Egypt — are on the verge of a crisis.

A country’s debt balloons. Its foreign exchange reserves dwindle. An economic crisis ensues, quickly spiraling into political and social tensions. This is the story of Sri Lanka. But the International Monetary Fund is warning that multiple other nations could be close to the precipice too. Addressing finance ministers of G20 nations earlier this week, the IMF’s managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, cautioned countries with high debt to look at “Sri Lanka as a warning sign”, adding that the global economic outlook “has darkened significantly”.

Sri Lanka is not the only canary in the debt mine: Lebanon, Russia, Suriname and Zambia are others that have also defaulted on payments. Many more — from Argentina to Pakistan to a growing list of African nations, including Ghana, Kenya, Tunisia and Egypt — are on the verge of a crisis. In the immediate, they need relief, which will come at a cost. Lenders who agree to renegotiate terms of payments and international bodies like the IMF will demand that these countries tighten their fiscal belts and introduce austerity measures.

With the world already reeling from the economic impacts of the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, which itself has a large debt burden, this will mean added pain for vulnerable communities.
Think about it for a minute who is responsible for the "pandemic" and the "war in Ukraine"? Stop and think about it. The psychopath NWO globalist depopulation eugenics monsters that's who. They forced the unnecessary shutdowns for a virus that has a 95% survival rate and instigated the "war in Ukraine" that was started because the wanted to loot the treasury of many countries by sending Ukraine financial aid divvying it up amongst themselves and to instigate the human trafficking that they too benefit from. (emphasis mines)
It is imperative to draw lessons from this debt contagion. In Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Zambia, China is a major lender. Beijing’s loans have helped support massive infrastructure projects that are often not capable of recouping the investment into them. In the Pacific Islands, Samoa owes China debt equivalent to 30% of its GDP. But the current crisis is not the outcome of China’s policies only. Lebanon owes the bulk of its debt — 170% of its GDP — to domestic banks. Restructuring those loans could bring the country’s financial institutions to their knees.

Serial defaulter Argentina was on the road to recovery in 2020 when the pandemic pushed it back into recession. Suriname owes much of its debt to the Paris Club, a group of big lending nations. Both the Paris Club (with Suriname) and China (with Pakistan and Zambia) have agreed to restructuring loans. Whether or not those efforts are successful, it is vital for all countries to hold their governments accountable and for Opposition parties and economists to raise red flags in time. As Sri Lanka has shown, ordinary citizens — just like lenders — know how to make failed leaders pay.

Posted by Princess Mononoke at 6:22 PM

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