Debt Coverage:
INFOBAE: “Estimate that the government’s policy will have a scenario more like 1989 than 2002” (Josh Rosner)
Clarin: “‘Don’t look at 2001, but 1989’” (Josh Rosner)
El Cronista: “Rosner: ‘The country could fall into a default similar to the one in 1989 in six months” (Josh Rosner)
Ambito Financiero: “‘Commitment is with the bondholders of the swap’”
Ambito Financiero: “Argentina 2012, Peru of 2000”
Financial Times: “Around the world in Argentine bond payments?”
Buenos Aires Herald: “‘Attacks will not stop Argentina from keeping its promises,
Lorenzino”
Financial Times: “New York court backs Argentina into corner” (Josh Rosner)
NASDAQ: “Argentina Will Keep Paying Bondholders – Economy Miniser”
Argentine Economy:
The Wall Street Journal: “Moody’s lowers Argentina’s Foreign Currency Bond ceilings”
MercoPress: “Leading Argentine corporation claims the economy is in ‘very fragile situation’”
The Wall Street Journal: “Argentina Grapples with Credit-Rating Challenges”
Reuters: “UPDATE 3-Argentina bonds close lower after S&P downgrade”
· AF reports that Argentina’s CDS prices have shot up to 1734, double those of Venezuela. El Cronista reports Argentine bonds fell 16% yesterday in trading after the New York markets re-opened after Hurricane Sandy.
Global Relations:
The Wall Street Journal: “Vietnam, Argentina push up economic cooperation”
All Africa: “South Africa: Nation to Deepen Bilateral Relations With Argentina”
MercoPress: “Malvinas War families’ commission honours benefactor of Argentine memorial in Falklands”
JTA: “Negotiations between Argentina and Iran over Jewish center bombing ‘positive’”
Bloomberg Buisnessweek: “Ecuador to Sue Chevron in Argentina to Enforce Judgment”
BBC: “Ecuadoreans to sue Chevron in Argentina over pollution”
Buenos Aires Herald: “AMIA: Timerman announces new negotiations with Iran scheduled for November”
Buenos Aires Herald: “Argentina loses EU preferential import scheme”
· El Cronista reports that Argentina will lose its GSP benefits from the European Union in 2014, along with Brazil, Cuba, Uruguay and Venezuela. In Argentina’s case it will be because the World Bank has classified the country as “medium-high” income for the last three years.
· Hector Timerman came out to read a very short statement in Geneva saying that the first round of talks with Iran on the AMIA bombing were “positive” but no details came out at all, not even on background. The fact that an Iranian government spokesman said on Tuesday in Teheran that the government denies any involvement by any Iranian citizens seemed to have no effect on Argentina’s position: “I speak to foreign ministers, not to spokesmen,” Timerman said, dismissing the question. The Jewish community back home continues to be livid over the talks, with the DAIA saying the only “positive” outcome would be a definition on the judicial procedure for the accused to be tried.
· Jorge Oviedo reports in La Nacion that a group of victims harmed by environmental damage to the Amazon basin in Ecuador have come to Argentina’s courts to execute a US$19 billion attachment from an Ecuadoran court against Chevron. The oil company sent a statement from their California HQ: “The Ecuadoran sentence was the result of bribes and fraud. The company believes that the decision obtained in Ecuador is not executable in any court that respects the rule of law.”
Argentine Politics/Society:
Bloomberg: “Argentina Lowers Voting age as Fernandez Tries to Regain Footing”
Buenos Aires Herald: “CFK back to work after suffering low blood pressure”
· The Senate approved several key bills for the Casa Rosada, turning them into law: the voting age was lowered to 16, the ‘per saltum’ bill was adopted (giving petitioners the right to take cases directly to the Supreme Court from the lowest courts in cases of “institutional gravity”, which the government will undoubtedly do with its war on Clarin), and the 2013 Budget was approved.
· Every opposition member of the Senate – 28 out of 72 – signed a document in strong opposition to Constitutional reform to abolish presidential term limits. This ensures blockage of the 2/3 majority in the upper house at least until December of next year, when the new Congress is seated after the 2013 bi-elections.
Falklands:
Reuters: “Hedge funds swoop on Falklands oil search”
JORGE ARGUELLO on Twitter and Blog:
· Several tweets promoting his visit to Philadelphia today as part of “Argentina Week” in that city.
TRENDING TOPICS/ARGENTINA on Twitter:
· No political topics in today’s top 10.
INFOBAE
Estimate that the government’s policy will have a scenario more like 1989 than 2002
Thursday, November 01, 2012
By Daniel Sticco
In his second visit to Argentina, economist and Wall Street analyst Joshua Rosner told Infobae.com that the country will pay enormous social costs for not having gone from the role of a producer of raw materials to one of value-added assets and by the incentive of taking on debt in pesos at high rates.
The expert, who is famous for being one of the first to predict the financial meltdown of the markets in 2008 and is the director of the firm specializing in finance in New York, Graham Fisher & Co, again repeated, like he did one years ago, that Argentina must close the chapter of its default to attract risk capital that can lower dependency on commodities.
"The decision by the Central Bank to avoid issuing bonds in dollars will push the federal governments out of the financial system, because they will not be able to pay their debts and that will bring a scenario like 1989, more than 2002,” said Rosner in an interview with Infobae.com about the consequences he foresees for the turn of the economic policy.
"The social climate is deteriorating rapidly and the government is impeding the way toward obtaining the benefits of social inclusion by supporting internal consumption and taking on domestic debt. The announcement by Economy Minister Hernan Lorenzino that the debt in default will not be paid will increase country risk and accelerate the crisis.”
What do you think the government should do in the current situation?
-“The government has the opportunity to resume growth, for that it isn’t necessary to pay the debt in default, but to begin to negotiate that interest on the debt be paid, because that way could open the economy and attract foreign direct investment, with which it could go back to receiving the help of the international community and could avoid the pressures from the IMF to solve the conflict over the discredit of INDEC.”
Do you see the possibility of a new debt default in Argentina?
-“The government has lost all the progress of 2003 to 2008 and that could take it onto the path of a new default in the medium term, because it didn’t follow the steps of its neighbors in having an economy that generates added value.”
Regarding the world economy, Rosner said that it is making gradual progress, which is necessary Josh Rosner is the director of Graham Fisher, investment analysts in New York. A year ago he was here and predicted that six months later the economy would come to a halt. Now he is back, to give a chat at a seminar, and says that the country is running the risk of an “internal default”. For that, he adds, “one shouldn’t look at what happened in 2001 but what happened in 1989.”
“The window of opportunity for Argentina is closing; in six months it will be totally closed,” Rosner said, “if it doesn’t give out signals, the country will enter into a path without exit.” For the economist, the defaults are more political than economic decisions. He says that if public spending to sustain consumption continues to grow, while fiscal results worsen, the government finances itself with more emission (which drives inflation) and resources from public organizations like the Central Bank and ANSeS, and the way out will be traumatic. “The government still has time to give a sign, to sit down and dialogue with the IMF, the Paris Club, the ICSID … Dialogue is sufficient as a sign,” he adds. That way, doors would open for external financing that avoids putting pressure on the conjunction of factors, like is implied today from the sources of internal financing that the government appeals to. It’s that financing that he sees as a trap. “In 2001, the debt was external. But in 1989, there was a predominance of internal debt, and the crisis of insolvency ended in a devaluation of 34.5%.”
to avoid an inflationary spirl which would generate more social costs than are being suffered by the big developed economies, like the U.S. and Spain.
Clarin
“Don’t look at 2001, but 1989”
Thursday, November 1, 2012
By Marcelo Canton
Josh Rosner is the director of Graham Fisher, investment analysts in New York. A year ago he was here and predicted that six months later the economy would come to a halt. Now he is back, to give a chat at a seminar, and says that the country is running the risk of an “internal default”. For that, he adds, “one shouldn’t look at what happened in 2001 but what happened in 1989.”
“The window of opportunity for Argentina is closing; in six months it will be totally closed,” Rosner said, “if it doesn’t give out signals, the country will enter into a path without exit.” For the economist, the defaults are more political than economic decisions. He says that if public spending to sustain consumption continues to grow, while fiscal results worsen, the government finances itself with more emission (which drives inflation) and resources from public organizations like the Central Bank and ANSeS, and the way out will be traumatic. “The government still has time to give a sign, to sit down and dialogue with the IMF, the Paris Club, the ICSID … Dialogue is sufficient as a sign,” he adds. That way, doors would open for external financing that avoids putting pressure on the conjunction of factors, like is implied today from the sources of internal financing that the government appeals to. It’s that financing that he sees as a trap. “In 2001, the debt was external. But in 1989, there was a predominance of internal debt, and the crisis of insolvency ended in a devaluation of 34.5%.”
El Cronista
Rosner: “The country could fall into a default similar to the one in 1989 in six months”
Thursday, November 1, 2012
By Dolores Olveira
Joshua Rosner, economist and Wall Street analyst, said that the country within 6 to 12 months could go into an internal default that would hold similarities with the one that took place in 1989.
Rosner said that the country finds itself in stagflation, with an inflation rate around 25% and economic growth at around zero.
The following is an interview that Rosner gave to El Cronista:
You state that we could be on the path to an internal default similar to 1989…
It’s not exactly the same. But it is an economy that depends on internal debt and internal consumption, to which one adds a slowdown in GDP, a high level of public spending and inflation. All of this points Argentina toward a default very similar to the one in 1989, if it doesn’t acknowledge the advantages of attracting investments that inject dollars.
How close could this default be?
Next year I think if there is no dialogue with the Paris Club and the vulture funds the economy could collapse and that is already happening. Now I expect there will be an internal default within six to twelve months if the right policies are taken. The government needs to come in and begin to negotiate or it will be consigned to waiting for an eventual default.
The Economy Minister said that we will never pay the vulture funds...
It’s a mistake that caused the spread on Argentine bonds and country risk to widen. What Argentina needs to do is to say: “I disagree with the decision and I want to sit down and negotiate outside of court.” Those conversations don’t have any reason to lead to big payouts.
The internal Argentine debt is with public entities, especially the Central Bank …
That causes a rise in monetary supply, which increases inflation, but there is access to dollars through investment. And inflation of around 20% plus GDP growth around zero has already put Argentina in a stagflation situation. In this scenario it will be difficult to avoid a fiscal deficit during the next three years.
What has to be done to get those investments?
The government seems to have convinced the people that dialogue is something negative. And what is required is to normalize relations with the world, show a readiness to sit down and negotiate, with the Paris Club, with the companies that got favorable rulings in the ICSID, with Repsol, with the vulture funds, and sit down and talk with the IMF about a new INDEC in the future. Don’t try to give them everything they ask, try to sit and talk with an eye toward reaching an agreement that satisfies both parties.
What is happening when situations arise like the pesification of Chaco’s debt?
The kinds of regulations from the Central Bank that cause what happened with Chaco end up driving investments away, just like the controls on the capital markets, the use of Central Bank reserves as if it were a private bank, the decision to not obey court decisions. But public opinion and the markets have a short memory, it would be easy to reverse it, renewing the commitment to a process of negotiation. The problem of nationalist populism is that it proposes not “us and the world” but “us and them”.
Ambito Financiero
“Commitment is with the bondholders of the swap”
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Minister Hernán Lorenzino said yesterday that “the attacks from the risk rating agencies and the vulture funds will not impede Argentina from honoring its commitments” in relation to paying debt. The head of the Palacio de Hacienda expressed these concepts when inaugurating the day on Argentina’s population and the census of 2010, organized by INDEC at the Sheraton Hotel in Pilar.
Leaving the conference hall, the official said that “Argentina will not change position, which is to not pay the vulture funds. We have nothing to negotiate with them.” He also said that “this policy will not change, because we have a commitment to the creditors that entered the debt swap and we will respect that commitment.”
According to the minister, “there could be many judicial decisions that get in the way of debt reduction, but they will not make us stop paying in the corresponding currency.”
He argued further that “there are those that are not assuming the success of the debt reduction policy” of Argentina. “And for that comes this punishment: the attacks from the vulture funds, the ratings agencies, and the speculative attacks from the markets.” Regarding the last census he said that “the results give us many very satisfying aspects of improvement in employment, inclusion of people with disabilities and improvements in sanitation.” In his opinion, the census reflects the differences of a state that is present with one that is not present, which shows improvements in variables like salaries, the rebuilding of external accounts, debt reduction and the creation of five million jobs.”
“The census is a measure of the success of the government’s policy. It shows us the crude reality, good or bad, of the things we’ve done,” he said. He said that the report is inclusive and contains the increase of rights because “inclusion of minorities was statistically recognized.”
He also pointed out that “statistics have gone back to being nationalized. It is not and will not be in the hands of the media or corporations. Public statistics are a public asset of the people of the Nation.”
Ambito Financiero
Argentina 2012, Peru 2000
Thursday, November 1, 2012
By Jose Siaba Serrate
Argentine restructured its foreign sovereign debt (in the hands of private creditors) through two separate swaps in 2005 and 2010. The government decided the terms of the transactions, promoted the biggest possible participation in all circles, and labeled the haircut obtained (in the first photo, “75%”) as a success as well as the elevated final acceptance of its proposal. After both swaps, it reached 91% of the eligible universe. In that logic, and in the very favorable conditions that the country defined for its finances, a total adhesion of 100% would have wiped away the matter in dispute in a definitive manner and constituted the biggest achievement. Argentina would have then returned to full status as a current debtor in the voluntary capital markets. From that perspective, the recent adverse decision from the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit of New York could be read as a judicial order to increase the effective scope of the swap operation and debt haircut (under the same terms that Argentina fixed and no improvements for the debtor). The verdict was that the plaintiffs should receive the payments that would have come to them if they’d entered the swaps of 2005 and 2010. The obligations in their power – taking into account capital and interest owed and unpaid since the moment of the default of 2001 – add up to approximately US$1.333 billion.
Would the reasons that brought forward the reopening of the debt swap two years ago, to dedicate them to actively seeking those interested between April and September 2010, have ceased to be in force? That effort allowed for a redemption of obligations of US$12.21 billion and submitting them to an implicit reduction in conversion to new bonds. Has the epic swap fallen into disgrace? From what is known, no. If it was celebrated as progress, it would be a contradiction to tear at one’s garments over a decision that, in the facts, widens it. If the use of international reserves was defended before Congress to address the bigger disbursements coming from restructuring US$12.21 billion in 2010, what is now in play is only 11% of that total. Are there financial reasons that were not present then and which would be so decisive today to discourage that decision? It isn’t known, but they are not evident. What’s more, the decision from the Court of Appeals, increases the chances of an attachment that blocks the payments to holders of restructured debt and puts Argentina in the same disjunction that Peru faced in 2000, when it had to negotiate with Elliott Associates (the fund behind NML Capital) to not fall back into default on its debt.
It’s curious, but history tends to repeat itself. Peru learned of the unfavorable decision in New York before it became public that it could change its agent for payment and jurisdiction. But the idea to pay through Euroclear didn’t work either. Brussels was a mousetrap: Elliott took action there and Peru was okay in the first court but the court of appeals cut them off. Like now, the Achilles heel of the sovereign was non-compliance with the “pari passu” clause. Two separate rulings from New York have ruled that Peru had to pay Elliott before addressing any service on the Brady debt. The Belgian court found that it was inappropriate to validate the elusive maneuver to channel payments through Euroclear. If it doesn’t plan to live with the sword of Damocles of a possible attachment, nor wants to honor the order of the judges, the government will have to be able to appeal successfully to the U.S. Supreme Court or mount a circuit of payments from the Bank of International Settlements in Basel. Two goals that are not easy to achieve.
Financial Times
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
By Joseph Cotterill
Beyond all the interesting (maybe precedent-setting) stuff about pari passu…
Since last week’s US Appeals Court ruling went against Argentina, there’s been a lot of comment about how the country could try changing the trustee or payments structure of the bonds which came out of its 2005-2010 restructuring.
The basic idea would be for the government to make sure it can still service these bonds — including pars, discounts, and those famous GDP warrants — without simultaneously having to make payments on the holdouts’ debt as ordered by US courts. In a word, to Griesa-proof them. In a concept, to somehow offshore payments to a place outside US jurisdiction.
Buenos Aires Herald
Economy minister Hernán Lorenzino assured today that “the attacks on risk qualifiers and the vulture funds are not going to stop Argentina from keeping its promises,” referring to the payment of large debts the country owes.
Financial Times
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
By Jude Webber and Robin Wigglesworth
Cristina Fernández, Argentina’s president, boasts that she is a good lawyer. Her government will need all the legal skill it can muster after a US appeals court ruling forcing it to contemplate two scenarios it has always declared anathema: paying litigious bondholders 11 years after falling into the world’s biggest sovereign default, or defaulting again.
The US ruling last Friday is not, by any means, the end of the so-called “holdout” saga that has virtually blocked Argentina from international capital markets since its 2001 default on nearly $100bn of debt. “But the ball’s in Argentina’s court,” says Miguel Kiguel, an economist.
NASDAQ
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
By Ken Parks
BUENOS AIRES--Argentina's federal government will continue to pay the bonds it issued to restructure debt the South American nation defaulted on more than a decade ago, Economy Minister Hernan Lorenzino said Wednesday.
Mr. Lorenzino said the administration of President Cristina Kirchner will "do everything that is necessary" to pay those bonds in the currency they were issued.
Argentina has restructured about 93% of the $100 billion in sovereign debt it defaulted on amid a deep economic crisis in 2001. Investors who participated in the 2005 and 2010 debt swaps received about 33 cents on the dollar.
The Wall Street Journal
Thursday, November 01, 2012
New York: Global rating agency Moody's today lowered Argentina's foreign-currency bond ceiling to B3 from B2, aligning the ceiling with the sovereign's own foreign- and local-currency bond ratings of B3. The lowering of the foreign-currency bond ceiling reflects the rating agency's rising concern that private sector and local government Argentine debt issuers may be unable to access foreign exchange.
Global rating agency Moody's notes that this ceiling change has limited rating implications for structured finance and non-sovereign credits in Argentina, other than Argentinean banks and a limited number of infrastructure credits. All Argentinean foreign currency bank debt ratings, which are already subject to the foreign currency bond ceiling, are likely to be downgraded to a maximum foreign currency rating of B3. Additionally, a limited number of infrastructure issuers, with no material assets or operations outside Argentina, that currently have foreign currency-denominated debt issued under international law are likely to be affected by this action. In each case, actions will be announced shortly.
MercoPress
Thursday, November 1, 2012
“The chances for Argentina to obtain external financing are very limited” said the report from the group belonging to Paolo Rocca, adding that the country “remains in a cone of uncertainty” and emphasized the need of tackling inflation and of investing in infrastructure.
The report which describes the Argentine economy as fragile also addresses some irritating issues for the administration of President Cristina Fernandez such as the official statistics from Indec, private investment and the “very delicate fiscal situation”.
The Wall Street Journal
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
By Ken Parks and Charles Roth
BUENOS AIRES—Argentina will continue to service its restructured debt, Economy Minister Hernan Lorenzino declared Wednesday, a day after one ratings agency downgraded the credit deeper into junk territory and another put it on review for a downgrade.
Mr. Lorenzino said the administration of President Cristina Kirchner will "do everything that is necessary" to pay debt issued to two separate swaps for defaulted debt, and to do so in the currency they were issued. His remarks came after Standard & Poor's Ratings Services Tuesday cut its sovereign rating on Argentina one-notch to B-minus, six levels into junk territory, with a negative outlook. Earlier in the day, Fitch Ratings had placed its single-B Argentina rating on review for a downgrade. Both agencies cited increasing debt management risks, in particular that Latin America's third-biggest economy will be able to service its external debt.
Reuters
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Oct 31 (Reuters) - Argentina's benchmark dollar-denominated bond prices closed down by as much as 3.9 percent on Wednesday in local over-the-counter trade, a day after Standard & Poor's downgraded the country's sovereign credit rating.
At the same time, Argentina's risk spread widened sharply on JPMorgan's EMBI+ bond index, as the cost of buying protection against an Argentine default surged.
The Wall Street Journal
Thursday, November 01, 2012
The third meeting of the Vietnam-Argentina economic-trade joint committee was held in Hanoi on October 31 to seek ways to diversify exports, increase trade value and lift the two countries’ bilateral ties to a new height.
At the meeting, the two sides committed to creating favourable conditions for goods of each country to enter the other market.
In the agricultural sector, they specified cooperation projects and plans to implement them.
All Africa
Thursday, November 01, 2012
Pretoria — International Relations and Cooperation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane will today welcome her Argentine counterpart, Foreign Relations, International Trade Minister, Hector Timerman.
Timerman is in South Africa for the two-day 3rd Session of the South Africa-Argentina Bi-National Commission (BNC).
This will be the third meeting of the BNC since the commission was established in accordance with a bilateral agreement signed between South Africa and Argentina in New York, on the margins of the UN General Assembly, in September 2005.
MercoPress
Thursday, November 01, 2012
The mother of one of the soldiers buried at the Memorial in Darwin said the simple but moving event was an “act of homage and gratitude” to Mr. Eunerkian for two reasons.
“On the one hand because Eurnekian made his the pain and grief of so many families and this was in tune with the people; secondly because one must have a lot of courage and moral integrity to challenge those whom from very high positions, pretend a systematic oblivion of our sacrifices”, said the mother who spoke in the name of those killed during the 1982 conflict.
JTA
Thursday, November 1, 2012
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (JTA) -- Three days of negotiations between Argentina and Iran over the bombing of a Buenos Aires Jewish center have been "very positive," Argentina's Foreign Minister Hector Timerman announced.
The statement came Wednesday at the Government House after three days of meetings between authorities of both nations at the United Nations' headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. “
"The only commitment is to the right of the victims and their families to find the truth and justice," Timerman, who is Jewish, said. Timerman also announced new negotiations with Iran scheduled for November.
Bloomberg Buisnessweek
Thursday, October 31, 2012
By Pablo Gonzalez
Ecuadorean plaintiffs will ask an Argentine court to enforce a $19 billion award against Chevron Corp. (CVX) in a lawsuit over pollution in the Amazon rain forest by seizing the company’s local assets, a lawyer for the group said.
An attachment order will be filed as soon as tomorrow in a Commercial Court of Justice in Buenos Aires, Pablo Fajardo, the Ecuadorean lawyer who represents the group, said today at a press conference in Buenos Aires. The group will ask to seize Chevron’s local Argentine unit, dividends, oil sales income and the company’s bank accounts in Argentina, Enrique Bruchou, an Argentine attorney with Bruchou, Fernandez, Madero & Lombardi, said at the same press conference.
BBC
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Ecuadorean plaintiffs say they plan to sue Chevron in Argentina to try to seize the oil company's assets there.
The group accuses Chevron of polluting land in the Amazon region for almost three decades.
Last year, an Ecuadorean court ordered Chevron to pay $19bn (£11.8bn) in damages.
Since Chevron has few assets in Ecuador, the plaintiffs are trying to get the ruling, which Chevron says is illegitimate, enforced abroad.
Buenos Aires Herald
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Foreign Minister Héctor Timerman announced at the Government House that new negotiations between diplomatic representatives of Argentina and Iran over the investigation into the 1994 AMIA terrorist attack, will take place before the end of Novemeber. The statements came after three days of meetings between authorities of both nations at the UN’s headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.
Being of a secretive nature, as both delegations have refused to comment on the issues or topics discussed, today’s meeting was scheduled with the intention of being the final session of dialogue but not the last, Timerman only said that the outcome was "positive", and added that the government's intentions are only those of bringing relief and justice to the victims of the attack that killed 85 people.
The Argentine delegation was led by Deputy Foreign Minister, Eduardo Zuaín, and Foreign Ministry councillor Susana Ruiz Cerruti.
Buenos Aires Herald
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
The EU has issued today its revised import preference scheme - known as the Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) - for developing countries most in need which will take effect from 1 January 2014, revealing that Argentina will no longer benefit.
Following agreement with the Council and European Parliament, today's publication contains the specific tariff preferences granted under the GSP in the form of reduced or zero tariff rates and the final criteria for which developing countries will benefit. The new scheme will be focused on fewer beneficiaries (89 countries) to ensure more impact on countries most in need.
At the same time, more support will be provided to countries which are serious about implementing international human rights, labour rights and environment and good governance conventions.
Bloomberg
Thursday, November 01, 2012
By Eliana Raszewski
Argentine lawmakers approved a bill lowering the country’s voting age, a move that could rally youth support as President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner tries to revert a slide in her popularity ahead of congressional elections next year.
The lower house approved the bill in a 131-to-2 vote yesterday, converting Argentina into one of only a handful of nations where 16-year-olds can vote. The government-backed bill, which passed the Senate in early October, allows young people to cast ballots two years before voting becomes mandatory at age 18.
Buenos Aires Herald
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner returned to work today after suffering a bout of low blood pressure. The Head of State met with Deputy Economy Minister Axel Kicillof, YPF CEO Miguel Gallucio and with Trade Secretary Guillermo Moreno.
Reuters
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
By Laurence Fletcher and Sarah Young
Oct 31 (Reuters) - Hedge funds have been quietly building up stakes in the fledgling oil explorers operating off the Falklands, betting that companies will ignore the threats made by Argentina to disrupt the activity.
Lansdowne Partners, one of Europe's most powerful hedge funds, Crispin Odey's Odey Asset Management and Blackfish Capital, owned by the Rowland family, have all acquired stakes, regulatory filings show, as investors grow more excited over drilling prospects and a clear plan for the first oil field development.
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