Reforms that started in the early 1990s cut inflation, brought order to the economy and lured investors to Argentina. As Russian, Japanese and regional markets crashed over the last two years, Argentina showed remarkable resilience. But now, Argentina has all the bounce of a deflated ball and the economic ills and inconsistencies that prosperity had kept under wraps are popping up with force. That s not an easy contradiction to resolve, judging from the growing anger that freight forwarders, carriers and shippers are directing at the Argentinean bureaucracy over issues such as pre-shipment inspections. Panalpina s Miami office.
Argentinean officials say they are just trying to protect their local companies.
But now, they have bigger concerns such as the country s overall economy. The economic woes have roiled the country and have driven a wedge between Argentina and its main trading partners, the neighboring members of South America s Mercosur bloc. Inflation that raced at more than 1,000 percent in 1990 was down to less than 1 percent in 1998, bolstering investor confidence. Privatization, deregulation and trade liberalization have moved along and, by all macroeconomic indicators, the country boomed in 1997 while unemployment fell and inflation was virtually unseen. The economy was too vulnerable to changes in external market conditions.