Information about international economic affairs that can impact the Argentinian economy.
According to an analysis by the International Strategy Institute (IEI) of the Chamber of Exporters, the exchange reached $1.36 billion in June. National exports totalled $666 million and imports $692 million, leaving Argentina’s deficit at $26 million.
The city of Buenos Aires has just launched a comprehensive green plan to reverse the adverse effects of climate change and its impact, in line with the axes required by the Paris Agreement, to which Argentina signed up in 2016. It is working to reduce emissions of the leading greenhouse gases (GEis), which account for 13.1 million tonnes of CO2 according to the latest official measurements. It focuses on three key sectors with high participation in emissions: responsible energy of 58%, transport of 28% and residues of 14%. The initiative will seek to make the city carbon neutral by 2050
Trade with Brazil recorded a deficit of $ 147 million in July, totalling three consecutive months in red, as a result of a drop in Argentine exports, which recorded a sharp fall of 38.9% year-on-year in July. The value of exports was $554 million, while imports shrank by 18.6% and totalled $701 million, according to official information from the government of the neighbouring country.
An Oxfam report indicated that, since March, eight new billionaires appeared in the region against estimates that 52 million people will go into poverty and 40 million will lose their jobs this year.
Spot gold climbed 1.8% to $1,934.62, a new record after an escalation in the geopolitical dispute between the United States and China, which affected the dollar and threatened to hit the global economy even harder. Gold has climbed 28% this year. The dollar is losing its appeal as a refuge. The dollar depreciated on Monday to a nearly two-year low against the EUR, which rose 0.9% to $1.18. In a similar vein, the Yen gained 0.8%.
The latest estimate by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) is that the region will lose 8.5 million formal jobs and 2.7 million legal businesses will disappear, not including job reductions by companies that will continue to operate. Although the crisis affects all enterprises, the impact will be much more significant on microenterprises and SMEs, because of their weight in the regional business structure.
The European Union-Mercosur free trade agreement, finalized one year ago last June, faces growing opposition from European national governments, EU parliamentarians, and non-profit organizations, in addition to Latin American entities, putting its ratification at risk. At the heart of this resistance: the EU’s strong dissatisfaction over Brazil’s destructive environmental policies and rapidly rising deforestation rate under President Jair Bolsonaro. One of the biggest opponents of the trade agreement to date is the French government of Emmanuel Macron, whose party failed to triumph in municipal elections against the victorious Green Party on June 28, 2020.
The ranking clearly distinguishes Latin America among the least competitive in the world. The best-ranked country in the region is Chile (38th), followed by Peru (52nd), Mexico (53rd), Colombia (54th), Brazil (56th) and, in the last two positions, Argentina (62nd) and Venezuela (63rd).
The Government returned to a new round of talks with its Mercosur peers, in the context of the crisis that erupted last April 24 when the Chancellery formalized its refusal to sign free trade agreements that are negotiated with South Korea, Canada, Singapore and Lebanon.
In the wake of Argentina’s announcement that it will abandon negotiations on Mercosur agreements, the Brazilian government wants to suggest changes in the bloc’s operating rules to make commercial deals feasible without the participation of the neighboring country.
