ARGENTINA
Over-Achiever?
Argentine President Mauricio Macri aims to abolish “about half” of the government ministries as part of an austerity plan to tackle the country’s currency crisis announced Monday.
Beginning Jan. 1, Argentina will also reinstate taxes on soy meal and soy oil as well as corn, wheat and raw soybeans – its main exports, the BBC reported. The move is a reversal of Macri’s decision to slash agricultural taxes in December 2015.
Macri also set his sights higher than the targets set in negotiations with the International Monetary Fund in May, vowing to balance the budget next year and deliver a 1 percent surplus by 2020.
Arriving for talks with the IMF in Washington on Tuesday, Argentine Treasury Minister Nicolas Dujovne said he hopes to renegotiate better terms for a $50 billion loan package from the fund, securing an early release of some of the money so as to avoid tapping the bond market. The massive bailout scheme has already sparked protests in Argentina – where many blame the agency for the country’s 2001-2002 financial crisis.
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