Argentina
Argentina defaults on World Bank loan
ARGENTINA - The Argentine government on Thursday took the extraordinary step of defaulting on a loan repayment to the World Bank, in a sign of its intense frustration over negotiations with the bank's sister institution, the International Monetary Fund.
Argentina and IMF at odds over payment
ARGENTINA - Argentina and the International Monetary Fund remain some distance apart in negotiations over an agreement that would make it easier to make a $805m debt payment due to the World Bank next week.
Argentine markets edge up, but worried about IMF
ARGENTINA - Argentine stocks inched higher, while the peso firmed slightly on Tuesday as the Central Bank sold dollars into the market to offset investor nervousness about a stalemate in aid talks with the IMF.
IADB chief praises Argentine crisis strategy
ARGENTINA - Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) President Enrique Iglesias on Tuesday praised Argentina's strategy to try and end its worst ever economic crisis, even though it has caused a standoff between the government and the IMF.
Argentina: World Bank extends loan deadline
ARGENTINA - World Bank President James Wolfensohn said the due date for a debt payment to the World Bank has been pushed back to 14 Nov from 9 Nov, Argentine Economy Minister Roberto Lavagna said in a Sunday newspaper interview.
Review of Argentina and the Fund: from triumph to tragedy
While Michael Mussa honestly recognises Fund failings, Benedict Mander finds his suggested tweaks for the system disappointingly conservative.
Argentina: IMF deal mooted for Friday
ARGENTINA - A deal between Argentina and the IMF rescheduling US$14bn falling due to the multilateral agencies between now and the end of next year could be announced as soon as Friday of this week, according to a number of sources in Buenos Aires.
Argentina races to get IMF deal before new default
ARGENTINA - Argentine officials arrived in Washington on Monday to try to break the latest impasse in aid talks with the IMF as a potentially disastrous new debt default loomed less than two weeks away.
Blejer set for Bank of England role
UK - Mario Blejer, former governor of Argentina's central bank, is heading for a calmer climate and will take up the post of director at the Bank of England's Centre for Central Banking Studies.
Argentina threatens loan default
ARGENTINA - Argentina has raised the pressure on international lenders to agree a new cash lifeline, threatening default if extra money is not forthcoming.
Court rejects Argentine bank deposit moves
ARGENTINA - Argentina's Appeals Court handed the government another setback Friday, declaring a January decision to convert bank deposits from dollars to pesos unconstitutional, it is reported.
IMF confirms delay of Argentina loan payment
US - The International Monetary Fund on Thursday delayed for one year a $2.8 billion Argentina loan payment, saying the situation there remains "very difficult" and repeating what policies are needed before aid can be restarted.
Argentina - IMF send draft intent letter next week
ARGENTINA - The IMF is to send Argentina a draft letter of intent next week to agree terms for aid to the recession-wracked nation , Cabinet Chief Alfredo Atanasof said on Thursday just as aid hopes had appeared to fade.
Argentine central bank criticises economy ministry
ARGENTINA - Argentina's central bank has criticised the economy ministry for submitting a written request with the country's largest state-owned banks last week to restructure their operations, local press reported.
Gov't lifts demand deposit freeze - Argentina
ARGENTINA - Argentina's government will begin to lift the freeze on demand deposits to facilitate transactions in the depressed economy, local broadsheet La Nacion reported.
Lavagna keen on replacing central bank chief
ARGENTINA - Argentina's economy minister Roberto Lavagna has not given up his hopes of replacing central bank chairman Aldo Pignanelli with a trusted lieutenant, local daily newspaper Clarin reported on Tuesday.
Argentina unveils rules to encourage bank deposits
ARGENTINA - Argentina's central bank announced on Monday new rules meant to encourage people holding cash outside banks, for instance at home, to deposit it in the nation's beleaguered banking system.
Report suggests Argentina's Pignanelli may stay on
ARGENTINA - Argentina's central bank chairman Aldo Pignanelli has decided not to resign despite his strong differences with Economy minister Roberto Lavagna, Argentine daily Clarin reported, quoting spokespersons from the central bank.
Reports Krueger unhappy with Argentina plan untrue
US - The International Monetary Fund said on Monday a report in a Brazilian newspaper saying a top IMF official is unhappy with economic plans Argentina sent to the fund on Friday is "absolutely" untrue reports Reuters.
Economic Review from the Atlanta Fed Bank
PUBLICATION - Global Banks, Local Crises: Bad News from Argentina by Marco Del Negro and Stephen Kay, published in the Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Third Quarter 2002, Vol 87, No 3.
Court upholds ruling on Argentine deposit freeze
ARGENTINA - An Argentine federal appeals court has upheld a prior ruling that declared unconstitutional the deposit freeze in place since December last year, along with all subsequent measures based upon it, local press reported.
Interview: Mario Blejer
In January 2002 former IMF economist Mario Blejer became governor of the Banco Central de la Repœblica Argentina with the job of preventing Argentina from descending into financial anarchy. Two weeks after his resignation in late June he spoke to Central…
IMF Survey, 5 August
REPORT - IMF Survey, Topical coverage of the IMF's activities, policies, and research, 5 August. Includes Jack Boorman on the Argentina crisis and lessons to be learned from it.
Argentine central banker admits contagion effect
ARGENTINA - Aldo Pignanelli, the president of the Argentine Central Bank (BCRA), said Friday that the Argentine crisis, which has been dubbed the "tango effect", has spread to Brazil and Uruguay, adding that the local banking and foreign exchange system…