Argentina approves $2.5 bln Rio Tinto lithium mining project
The approval of Rio Tinto's Rincon project under the RIGI incentive scheme was announced by the country's mining and energy coordination secretary Daniel Gonzalez at a conference in the capital Buenos Aires.
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Reuters
4 hours ago
- Reuters
US court delays turnover of Argentina's 51% YPF stake
NEW YORK, July 14 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Monday temporarily halted enforcement of an order requiring Argentina to turn over its 51% stake in oil and gas company YPF ( opens new tab to partially satisfy a $16.1 billion court judgment. The decision by U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska in Manhattan affords temporary relief to for the cash-strapped South American country, which has warned its economy could be destabilized if it were forced to give up the YPF stake. A turnover had been scheduled for Monday, but Preska extended the deadline to July 17 to allow time to appeal. Argentine President Javier Milei has been seeking to bolster foreign currency reserves and rein in soaring inflation while dealing with a heavy government debt burden. The dispute arose from Argentina's 2012 decision to seize the YPF stake from Spain's Repsol ( opens new tab without making a tender offer to minority shareholders Petersen Energia Inversora and Eton Park Capital Management. Those shareholders are represented by litigation funder Burford Capital (BURF.L), opens new tab, which has said it expected to receive 35% and 73% of Petersen's and Eton Park's respective damages. In September 2023, Preska ordered Argentina to pay $14.39 billion to Petersen and $1.71 billion to Eton Park. Argentina has not paid the judgment while it appeals. On June 30, Preska ordered the government to turn over the YPF stake within 14 days. The country has argued that the YPF shares were immune from turnover under the U.S. Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, while Burford said a commercial activity exception and years of evasion by Argentina justified a turnover. In a court filing on Thursday seeking to delay the turnover, Argentina told the appeals court "the stakes could not be higher." It warned that requiring a turnover would irreparably harm its sovereignty, interfere with foreign relations, violate international law and wrongly expand U.S. courts' power. Argentina likened a turnover to a foreign court ordering the U.S. government to ship gold reserves stored at Fort Knox outside the country because that court misinterpreted U.S. law. The country also said it would be unfair to give up its controlling stake in the country's largest energy company now, because doing so would likely be irrevocable even it ultimately won the case. (This story has been corrected to remove reference to 'appeals' court in the headline)
BBC News
8 hours ago
- BBC News
Argentina's Milei told to 'grow up' by VP in public spat over pensions
Argentine President Javier Milei and his vice-president, Victoria Villarruel, have engaged in a bitter public war of words over plans to increase shared posts on X in which his running mate had been called "stupid" and described as "a traitor", and in response Villarruel told the president to "grow up".The president's anger was triggered by a heavy defeat in Congress on Thursday, when the Senate approved motions aimed at boosting pensions and increasing disability allowances - which Milei had vehemently said he would veto the pension hike, arguing that the extra expenditure threatened his fiscal surplus, and blamed Villarruel for allowing the vote to proceed. In Argentina, the country's vice-president also acts as the president of the Senate. It was in this role as Senate leader that Villarruel allowed the debate on the emergency pension hike to proceed, even though senators allied with the government boycotted the session. With government-aligned senators absent, the motion passed with 52 votes in favour and four abstentions. Its backers argue that higher payments are essential in order for pensioners to make ends President Milei says it goes counter to his promise to eliminate Argentina's chronic fiscal deficit and bring down inflation. In January, Milei scored a major economic victory when it emerged that 2024 was the first year in more than a decade that Argentina had registered a budget month also saw the country's monthly inflation rate drop to 1.5%, the lowest it has been in more than five the austerity measures that helped the libertarian president lower the deficit and drive down inflation have also triggered protests, with pensioners holding weekly rallies outside Congress. Following the approval of the motion on Thursday, President Milei was quick to announce that he would block the pension hike."I bet a hundred thousand to one that you all know what I'm going to do. You know what? We're going to veto it. And if, by some chance, which I don't believe will happen, but if the veto is overturned, we will take it to court," he said. But he also turned on his vice-president, reposting a comment on X in which she was labelled a "traitor, a demagogue and stupid in economic terms". Villarruel responded on Instagram arguing that pensioners and people with disabilities "could not wait" any longer for their payments to be raised and suggested the president should make savings by spending less on the intelligence services and on his travels. Since becoming president in December 2023, Milei has travelled abroad one of the most publicised events, he wielded the chainsaw which has become emblematic of his government cuts before handing it to Elon Musk at the US Conservative Political Action also urged the president "to speak and act like an adult" in responses she gave her critics on Instagram.
Reuters
3 days ago
- Reuters
Argentina inflation seen accelerating in June after May slowdown
BUENOS AIRES, July 11 (Reuters) - Argentina's monthly inflation likely ticked up to 1.9% in June, according to the median forecast of a Reuters poll, after May's rise marked the lowest monthly increase since 2020. The month of May had marked the smallest monthly increase in five years for South America's No. 2 economy, with consumer prices rising just 1.5%, data from the official INDEC statistics agency showed, as the government of President Javier Milei works to tame painful price hikes. For June, estimates from 15 local and foreign analysts ranged from 1.4% to 2.0%. Consulting firm C&T Economic Advisors said their survey showed a 2% rise in June, slightly above their May estimate of 1.8% and the official 1.5% figure, but still one of the lowest monthly rates since 2020. May's unusually low inflation was driven by factors that did not recur in June, they added. "No disinflation process is linear, so it is natural to observe some months with slightly higher inflation than the previous one," said Eugenio Mari, chief economist at Fundacion Libertad y Progreso(LyP). This is especially relevant "when we consider that these are the first months after the exchange rate unification and several relative prices are still seeking equilibrium," he added. For July, early analyst estimates predict a lower inflation rate than that projected for June. "The rate of depreciation of our currency has been very slow," said Aldo Abram, economist and executive director at LyP, saying this contributed to his estimates that July inflation would be lower than in June, at around 1.7%, even though July typically experiences seasonal price increases. INDEC is scheduled to publish data for June on Monday at 1900 GMT.
