6 Min Read
NEW YORK/BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentina’s honeymoon with the International Monetary Fund is about to be tested as it looks to update a $57 billion agreement struck two years ago that failed to prevent a slide into recession and the country’s ninth sovereign default.
FILE PHOTO: IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and Argentina s Economy Minister Martin Guzman attend a conference hosted by the Vatican on economic solidarity, at the Vatican, February 5, 2020. REUTERS/Remo Casilli/File Photo
The IMF, often the target of angry protests in the streets of Buenos Aires, has looked to soften its tone with Argentina as the center-left Peronist government has restructured over $100 billion with private creditors this year.
6 Min Read
NEW YORK/BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentina’s honeymoon with the International Monetary Fund is about to be tested as it looks to update a $57 billion agreement struck two years ago that failed to prevent a slide into recession and the country’s ninth sovereign default.
FILE PHOTO: IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and Argentina s Economy Minister Martin Guzman attend a conference hosted by the Vatican on economic solidarity, at the Vatican, February 5, 2020. REUTERS/Remo Casilli/File Photo
The IMF, often the target of angry protests in the streets of Buenos Aires, has looked to soften its tone with Argentina as the center-left Peronist government has restructured over $100 billion with private creditors this year.
4 Min Read
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentina’s currency crisis will not be resolved with a “one shot” fix, Economy Minister Martin Guzman told Reuters, indicating a continued slow decline for the peso rather than a sudden devaluation.
Argentina s Economy Minister Martin Guzman poses for a picture before an interview with Reuters at the Economy Ministry, in Buenos Aires, Argentina December 10, 2020. REUTERS/Agustin Marcarian
As the South American country suffers a biting economic slowdown, markets are closely watching the wide gap between the official rate and trades in alternative markets which has stoked speculation the peso could be allowed to fall sharply.
(Corrects day of the week to Thursday, not Monday, in 11th paragraph)
BUENOS AIRES, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Argentina’s currency woes will not be resolved with a “one shot” fix, Economy Minister Martin Guzman told Reuters, indicating that the South American country will continue to guide a slow decline in the peso rather than a sudden devaluation.
Amid a biting economic slowdown, investors and traders are closely watching the currency and the wide gap between the official rate and trades in alternative markets which has stoked speculation the peso could be allowed to fall sharply.
However, in an interview held in his Buenos Aires office, the 38-year-old economist said he expected the peso to weaken with inflation over the year ahead, keeping the real exchange rate steady even as capital controls bolster reserves.
FILE PHOTO: Argentina s Economy Minister Martin Guzman attends a news conference in Buenos Aires
SAN MARTIN, Argentina (Reuters) – When Martin Guzman was doing a PhD in economics at Brown University in the United States, he and two other Argentine friends formed part of their department’s intramural soccer team and reached the tournament final.
Losing 1-0, Argentina’s now economy minister scored an equalizer but injured himself doing so, former team mate Martin Fiszbein recounted to Reuters.
“He said ‘My foot is killing me’,” Fiszbein said. “I told him he should get a substitute. He looked at me and said ‘No way. ” Guzman scored a second goal for a 2-1 win – before going to hospital where he learned he had a double fracture needing surgery.