
IMF Approves $2 Billion Disbursement to Argentina as Peso Slides
The board approved the funds after IMF staff finished the first review of Argentina's $20 billion deal, the Washington-based lender said in a statement Thursday. It brings total disbursements under the program, known as an extended fund facility, to $14 billion. However, the IMF confirmed that Argentina missed a mid-June target for building up its net international reserves at the central bank.
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US trade advisor says Trump tariff rates unlikely to change
New US tariff rates are "pretty much set" with little immediate room for negotiation, Donald Trump's trade advisor said in remarks aired Sunday, also defending the president's politically driven levies against Brazil. Trump, who has wielded tariffs as a tool of American economic might, has set tariff rates for dozens of economies including the European Union at between 10 and 41 percent come August 7, his new hard deadline for the duties. In a pre-taped interview broadcast Sunday on CBS's "Face the Nation," US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said "the coming days" are not likely to see changes in the tariff rates. "A lot of these are set rates pursuant to deals. Some of these deals are announced, some are not, others depend on the level of the trade deficit or surplus we may have with the country," Greer said. "These tariff rates are pretty much set." Undoubtedly some trade ministers "want to talk more and see how they can work in a different way with the United States," he added. But "we're seeing truly the contours of the president's tariff plan right now with these rates." Last Thursday, the former real estate developer announced hiked tariff rates on dozens of US trade partners. They will kick in on August 7 instead of August 1, which had previously been touted as a hard deadline. Among the countries facing steep new levies is Brazil. South America's largest economy is being hit with 50 percent tariffs on exports to the United States -- albeit with significant exemptions for key products such as aircraft and orange juice. Trump has openly admitted he is punishing Brazil for prosecuting his political ally Jair Bolsonaro, the ex-president accused of plotting a coup in a bid to cling to power. The US president has described the case as a "witch hunt." Greer said it was not unusual for Trump to use tariff tools for geopolitical purposes. "The president has seen in Brazil, like he's seen in other countries, a misuse of law, a misuse of democracy," Greer told CBS. "It is normal to use these tools for geopolitical issues." Trump was "elected to assess the foreign affairs situation... and take appropriate action," he added. Meanwhile White House economic advisor Kevin Hassett said that while talks are expected to continue over the next week with some US trade partners, he concurred with Greer's tariffs assessment in that the bulk of the rates "are more or less locked in." Asked by the host of NBC's Sunday talk show "Meet the Press with Kristen Welker" if Trump could change tariff rates should financial markets react negatively, Hassett said: "I would rule it out, because these are the final deals." Legal challenges have been filed against some of Trump's tariffs arguing he overstepped his authority. An appeals court panel on Thursday appeared skeptical of the government's arguments, though the case may be ultimately decided at the Supreme Court. mlm/des
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'Leave the oil in the ground': Same debates, different country
Guyana, a country of roughly one million people perched on the northeastern corner of South America, is one of the world's fastest growing economies thanks to a super-charged nation-building project: the accelerated development of gigantic offshore oil fields. In just six years, one of the continent's poorest nations has emerged as the world's newest petrostate. The discovery, though, has enraged Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro and revived his government's claims to Guyanese territory in a century-old boundary dispute. These issues of nation-building and sovereignty are familiar to Canadians, so I wanted to talk with a wise Guyanese colleague about their moment, as we contemplate ours. Selwin Asafa George, a 52-year-old entrepreneur, is remarkably thoughtful about what it's going to take for Guyana to embrace this movement towards prosperity, without losing its soul in the process. While the catalyst for accelerating nation-building in our respective countries differs, there is something for Canadians in Guyana's journey. 'This is our moment in the sun,' Selwin readily acknowledges when we virtually connect. Guyanese by birth, Selwin worked as an investment banker in New York City, studied at New York University and then Harvard's Kennedy School of Public Policy, before returning to Guyana in 2005 to take care of the family business. A mid-size enterprise employing over 150 locals, W&T George and Company holds several franchises in the food services and hospitality sector, and owns a portfolio of commercial real estate in Guyana's capital, Georgetown, as well as prime land outside the capital. 'There have been locals suggesting we leave the oil in the ground,' Selwin shares, with a smirk. 'And there have been very influential locals who have at least said to slow the rate at which we are extracting the oil, to give use a better chance, a better deal, to give us time.' Familiar sentiments to an Albertan like me. In Canada, I explain, First Nations remain divided on the merits of some of the nation-building projects pitched by provincial premiers, including, for example, the mining of critical minerals in northern Ontario's Ring of Fire. And despite the obvious need to become less reliant on a single market for Canada's oil — America — the green lobby is unrelenting in its push against the construction of export pipelines to tidewater. In the last decade, I tell Selwin, advocacy campaigns have sucked the energy out of many projects. It's different in Guyana, Selwin reports: 'Where you have strong economic interests, that will prevail.' Between Exxon and Chevron, American companies 'now control the majority of Guyana's oil output … so it's heavily in the interest of the U.S. to protect their economic interests.' (Exxon, operator and owner of 45 per cent of Guyana's Stabroek block, forecasts its output there to nearly double to 1.3 million bpd by the end of 2027. And Chevron now owns 30 per cent of the block.) There's no denying Canada is economically tied to America's hip, yet this conversation with Selwin is a reminder of the choices Canada retains. Foreign companies do invest in Canada's extractive sectors, but domestic ownership remains strong and influential. And while Canadians are struggling to define First Nations treaty rights within Confederation, we don't have another nation actually challenging our sovereignty. Venezuela is actively disputing Guyana's control over the Essequibo region, territory that makes up two-thirds of Guyana's landmass and includes oil and other resources. Selwin has thought deeply about the issues that bubble in nation-building endeavours and he's savvy enough to know what's negotiable. Right now, he's especially focused on one question: Who benefits from Guyana's resource windfall? After the first significant oil discovery in offshore Guyana was made by ExxonMobil, Selwin argued his country should adopt something similar to the Alaska sovereign wealth fund model. 'I believe it is critical that the public remains vigilant,' Selwin wrote then in a Guyanese newspaper, 'and so I urge that we go the path of Alaska by adopting a model of dividends for all. The introduction of the Alaska model of paying dividends to every Alaskan from their oil and gas resources would work wonders to strengthen the good governance model and ensure an engaged populace.' Who benefits? It's a critical question that can stimulate public awareness and buy-in — and one Canadians could spend more time talking about. How many Canadians know oilsands projects contribute roughly 3 per cent of our country's total GDP? How many Canadians understand the mechanics of equalization payments, how wealth is transferred from have to have-not provinces to ensure non-renewable resource bounty is shared? Ultimately, a sovereign wealth fund was created in Guyana but, Selwin reports, the funds have largely been squandered. He did the math at the end of 2024, to see what the outcome could have been if the government of Guyana had heeded his advice. (He's a former investment banker, so his calculations are credible.) The fund would likely have grown to roughly $1.5 billion, he estimates, the equivalent of US$50,000 to $60,000 for every Guyanese citizen, and would continue to grow quickly, he adds. Selwin is encouraging leaders in Guyana to focus not just on the building of physical infrastructure, but on the building of a culture of productivity in the country as well. What's that, I ask. 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3 hours ago
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Putin unfazed as his economy holds up
The Kremlin claims to be unfazed by Donald Trump's new ceasefire deadline, and with good reason: though dangerously overheated by the war machine and western sanctions, Russia's economy is far from collapse. Sanctions are putting pressure on the rouble and dragging down economic growth as a boom driven by massive military spending comes to an end. They have also hit Russia's oil and gas revenues: they made up about 30% of the federal budget last year, and dropped by a third this spring. The country's oil exports remain stable by volume – albeit at lower prices. Growth is falling. In 2024 the economy grew by 4.3%, according to the state statistics agency Rosstat, up from 3.6% in 2023. But in the first quarter of 2025 growth had dropped to 1.4% and is predicted to level out at an annual growth figure of 1.6%. In June, Russia's economy minister, Maxim Reshetnikov, said the country was 'on the brink of a recession'. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) downgraded its forecast for the Russian economy even further. In its July World Economic Outlook Update, the IMF predicts Russia's gross domestic product (GDP) will rise just 0.9% in 2025, down from its 1.5% projection in April. The downturn was attributed to recent data suggesting a drop in retail sales and industrial production. The gloomy predictions have forced Russian officials to acknowledge the economic hit caused by the war in Ukraine and sanctions, particularly those restricting Russia's access to foreign markets and technology, that have affected the finance and energy sectors hardest. Elvira Nabiullina, governor of the Russian Central Bank, was even gloomier, saying the resources that had stoked growth in wartime – defying sanctions and pouring money into military contracts – had been 'truly exhausted'. The official inflation figure is about 10%, although independent analysts suggest it could be more than 15%. But even having constrained Russia's economy, existing sanctions haven't triggered collapse. Until now, Trump has not added new sanctions to those imposed on Russia by the Biden administration. Russia's economy is war-driven and state-controlled. Further sanctions might weaken it – or force the state to invent other ways of evading sanctions. Some Republicans think Putin can't go on dodging the sanction squeeze for ever. He seems determined to prove them wrong. Photograph by Dado Galdieri/Bloomberg via Getty Images