Argentina foibles (inflation, currency and potential anarcho-capitalist experiments)

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Argentina posts six months of fiscal, financial surpluses​

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentina posted primary fiscal and financial surpluses in June, the economy ministry said on Tuesday, showing the fruits of a drastic austerity package rolled out by libertarian President Javier Milei, who took office in December.

Both the fiscal and financial balances are the sixth consecutive monthly surpluses, and June's financial surplus - which includes interest payments by the government - is the first time since 2008 that six in a row have been recorded, the ministry added.

More:

 

The mystery of Argentina’s gold: Milei admits that it was transferred abroad, without specifying the quantities or destination​

Buenos Aires - JUL 28, 2024 - 00:05 EDT

Argentina’s reserves, held by its Central Bank, include almost two million troy ounces of gold, valued at about $4.5 billion. But lately, there’s a question that’s on everybody’s lips: where is it? Was it taken out of the country? Did some of it remain within Argentina, while the rest was transferred abroad? Well, the official information only offers partial answers.

The administration of far-right President Javier Milei admitted to the recent transfer of gold abroad, but didn’t specify quantities, the destination, or the purpose for this measure. Nor did the Central Bank provide any details. In a scenario of financial instability — and with the government facing the need to accumulate reserves — the decision generated suspicions and speculation. There are also fears that the gold could possibly be seized, due to long-standing legal cases that have been filed against Argentina by foreign creditors.

More:

english.elpais.com

The mystery of Argentina’s gold: Milei admits that it was transferred abroad, without specifying the quantities or destination

While the government acknowledges that gold reserves have been sent outside the country, there’s no official information available regarding the purpose of the operation. The gold is now exposed to the risk of being seized, due to long-standing claims against Argentina made by foreign creditors
english.elpais.com english.elpais.com
 
That seems odd. Given Milei's Austrian school economic/monetary policy, what goal is being achieved by expatriating their gold reserves?
 
They sent it to a neutral country so it cannot be seized or confiscated because Argentina has defaulted so many times on debt payment. My WAG is they sent it to Singapore.
 

Is Milei’s Radical Plan to Save Argentina Working?​

Aug 16, 2024 #Argentina #Milei #News

After eight months in office, Argentine President Javier Milei has slashed spending on social security, public wages and consumer subsidies. His austerity measures have won praise from former US President Donald Trump and Elon Musk. Milei also remains largely popular at home, with approval ratings above 50%. But painful reforms can only stay popular for so long. To win midterm elections next year and hang on to power, Milei must lift a cobweb of capital controls to restart the slumping economy without fanning inflation further.


9:28

00:00 Introduction
01:13 Milei’s rise
02:26 Cuts to public spending
05:23 Popularity in Argentina
06:28 Impact of austerity measures
08:10 Milei’s future
 

Inflation: Can President Javier Milei SAVE Argentina from Inflation⁉️🤔​

Aug 23, 2024


19:45
 
He may not be perfect but he's on the right path. People seem willing to suffer to get to the other side. Unlike things in the US. We have a huge population of welfare recipients who demand more and more. Not to mention the "refugee and immigration" problem.
 
searcher said:

The mystery of Argentina’s gold: Milei admits that it was transferred abroad, without specifying the quantities or destination​

Buenos Aires - JUL 28, 2024 - 00:05 EDT

Argentina’s reserves, held by its Central Bank, include almost two million troy ounces of gold, valued at about $4.5 billion. But lately, there’s a question that’s on everybody’s lips: where is it? Was it taken out of the country? Did some of it remain within Argentina, while the rest was transferred abroad? Well, the official information only offers partial answers.

The administration of far-right President Javier Milei admitted to the recent transfer of gold abroad, but didn’t specify quantities, the destination, or the purpose for this measure. Nor did the Central Bank provide any details. In a scenario of financial instability — and with the government facing the need to accumulate reserves — the decision generated suspicions and speculation. There are also fears that the gold could possibly be seized, due to long-standing legal cases that have been filed against Argentina by foreign creditors.

More:

english.elpais.com

The mystery of Argentina’s gold: Milei admits that it was transferred abroad, without specifying the quantities or destination

While the government acknowledges that gold reserves have been sent outside the country, there’s no official information available regarding the purpose of the operation. The gold is now exposed to the risk of being seized, due to long-standing claims against Argentina made by foreign creditors
english.elpais.com english.elpais.com
Click to expand...

More:

Aaaand... its GONE: President Milei sends TONS of Argentina sovereign Gold to UK​

Premiered 2 hours ago


11:40
 
searcher said:
More:

Aaaand... its GONE: President Milei sends TONS of Argentina sovereign Gold to UK​

Premiered 2 hours ago


11:40
Click to expand...

I don't understand this move. The only place that gold should have been sent is to the mint to mint coins for the people to use.
 
It's pretty simple. He's just another MotherWEF'r plant. Confiscated the countries gold and gave it to London to probably help them keep their game going just a bit longer.
 
There are few places in all of Argentina as poor as La Rioja, a sleepy, desolate province carved out of the red-clay highlands that form the country’s northwestern border with Chile.

And it is here, in La Rioja, that the financial toll of President Javier Milei’s shock economic therapy — a high-stakes bid to tame chronic inflation — can best be observed. When Milei slashed the monthly cash transfers from the federal government to the provinces, La Rioja went broke. In February, it fell into default. And soon the local economy had sunk into a deep recession.

So the governor, an outspoken critic of Milei by the name of Ricardo Quintela, dialed up a radical plan of his own. He created the province’s own currency, the chacho, had sheets of it printed up and started doling it out in wads of 50,000 to all government employees. It was a little bonus payment, Quintela said, to help people buy more of the essentials they’d been skimping on. Shop owners weren’t outright forced, but rather strongly encouraged, to accept chachos just like they would pesos. One chacho equals one peso.
...
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More:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/oth...d-to-offset-milei-s-shock-therapy/ar-AA1pUBKv
 
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2/3 of the province are gov employees. No wonder they are broke.
 
finance.yahoo.com

IMF Pulls Official Off Argentina Talks Amid Feud With Milei

(Bloomberg) -- The International Monetary Fund moved its top negotiator with Argentina to the sidelines in talks with the South American after he drew the ire of President Javier Milei.Most Read from BloombergHousing’s Worst Crisis in Decades Reverberates Through 2024 RaceHow Americans Voted...
finance.yahoo.com finance.yahoo.com
 
www.benzinga.com

Elon Musk Dons His MAGA Hat To Meet Pro-Bitcoin President Javier Milei: Duo Discuss Argentina's Journey To Normalcy - Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust (BTC) Common units of fractional undivided beneficial interest (ARCA:BTC)

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk met Argentina president Javier Milei, displaying camaraderie reminiscent of their previous meetings. What Happened: A video shared by the official X handles of Milei and Musk showed the two greet each other with a warm handshake.
www.benzinga.com www.benzinga.com

 
Argentine President Javier Milei announced plans to shut down the country's tax collection agency, a bold step in his ongoing effort to slash government spending and bureaucracy.

On Monday, presidential spokesperson Manuel Adorni confirmed that the Administración Federal de Ingresos Públicos (AFIP), Argentina's tax bureau, will "cease to exist." It will be replaced by a newly formed agency, the Agencia de Recaudación y Control Aduanero (ARCA), which will assume some of its functions.

"Throughout its existence, this agency has functioned as a political cash box and, as we all know, many Argentines have been subjected to absolutely immoral persecutions," Adorni's statement reads. "No State bureaucrat should be delegated the power to tell an Argentinean what to do with his property."

The closure of AFIP is framed as "essential to dismantle the unnecessary bureaucracy that has hindered the economic and commercial freedom of Argentines." ARCA, the new agency, will embody a "simple, more efficient, less costly, and less bureaucratic" approach to tax collection and customs control.

ARCA "aims to reduce the State, eliminate unnecessary positions, professionalize the agency, dismantle corrupt networks, and improve the efficiency of revenue collection and customs control by removing privileges of the past and optimizing public management," the statement continues.
...
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reason.com

Milei shuts down Argentina's tax agency

AFIP is an "unnecessary bureaucracy" that stifles economic freedom, says Milei's government.
reason.com reason.com

Prior to Milei, Argentina was molding their tax regime after the IRS here in the USA.
 
They need to eliminate income tax and create a flat tax on goods and services.
 

Argentina's Milei to meet with Trump, Musk next week in the US​

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentina's libertarian President Javier Milei will meet with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and tycoon Elon Musk next week in the United States, a government spokesperson said on Thursday.

The meeting with Trump will take place at Mar-a-Lago, the incoming U.S. leader's private south Florida club, according to the spokesperson.

More:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/worl...t-week-in-the-us/ar-AA1tHkua?ocid=socialshare
 
...
The Global X MSCI Argentina ETF, known by its ticker ARGT, absorbed $144 million of inflows for the week that ended on Nov. 22, with $88 million coming in on Friday alone, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The fund, which is a vehicle for traders to pile into equity bets on a country where access to local markets is complicated by capital controls, saw assets jump roughly seven-fold from $104 million when Milei took office to some $750 million on Monday.

“Milei hasn’t just talked the talk, but is actually walking the walk,” Malcolm Dorson, senior portfolio manager at Global X Management, the firm that manages ARGT. “He has trade balances, he has built a fiscal surplus, inflation is ticking down, and economic activity is picking up.”

The inflows come against encouraging signs for South America’s second-largest economy, with month-over-month inflation shrinking to 2.7% in October, gains in real wages and some $20 billion rushing into the country thanks to a tax amnesty program. ...
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pmbug said:
That seems odd. Given Milei's Austrian school economic/monetary policy, what goal is being achieved by expatriating their gold reserves?
Click to expand...
Milei was also a member-in-good-standing of Klaus Schwab's little supper-club.

So which represents his true personality and views? You pays yer money and takes yer choice...
 
Milei went to the most recent WEF meeting and basically shit on everyone there.

~~~

Argentina emerged from a brutal recession in the third quarter, boosting the odds that President Javier Milei heads into next year’s mid-term elections with growth on the rebound alongside cooling inflation.

Gross domestic product expanded 3.9% from July to September compared to the previous three-month period, better than analysts’ expectations for 3.4% growth. From a year ago, South America’s second-largest economy shrank 2.1% in the third quarter, according to government data published Monday. The median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg was for a contraction of 2.6%.
...
Signs of recovery are underway heading into 2025. Beyond the third-quarter growth, wages have surpassed inflation since April, job growth is slowly picking up and private estimates indicated poverty is gradually declining after spiking once Milei took office. Argentines also deposited over $20 billion in the financial system this year as part of Milei’s tax amnesty program, a robust sign of confidence in the libertarian president.
...
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https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/oth...ilei-eyes-growth-before-mid-terms/ar-AA1vYj92

pmbug said:
Argentina is either going to suffer bigly and then thrive, or experience a revolution. I'm not sure which is more likely at this point.
Click to expand...

Looks like suffer then thrive is playing out.
 
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