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"___  Document 140 of 650  Markets Receive Big Argentine Bond With Favor as de la Rua's Effort Begins  Author: By Craig Torres  Publication info: Wall Street Journal , Eastern edition [New York, N.Y] 26 Jan 2000: A19.  http://search.proquest.com/docview/398763310?accountid=28034  Abstract: Argentine President Fernando de la Rua's aggressive efforts to cut the nation's fiscal deficit in his first days in office paid off with rising confidence in international markets yesterday as the country issued its first long-term global bond of more than $1 billion since 1997. Argentina's economic team must roll over $13 billion in debt this year and finance a budget deficit of about $4.5 billion. Mr. de la Rua made a reform of Argentina's sloppy fiscal accounts his top priority shortly after he took office in December, calling the deficit ""our worst enemy."" His team pushed a budget package through Congress that contained spending cuts and tax increases.  Full text: BUENOS AIRES -- Argentine President Fernando de la Rua's aggressive efforts to cut the nation's fiscal deficit in his first days in office paid off with rising confidence in international markets yesterday as t"
"___  Document 143 of 634  Rush to back new economy companies: INTERNET by Richard Lapper: Argentina hosts the world's fifth-largest number of internet domains, but changing market sentiment threatens s  Author: Lapper, Richard  Publication info: Financial Times [London (UK)] 26 Sep 2000: 04.  http://search.proquest.com/docview/248790080?accountid=28034  Abstract: According to one recent study, Argentina is home to 325,000 internet domains, the fifth highest in the world, and 11 of the 15 most visited Spanish-language sites are Argentine. When Fernando de la Rua, the Argentine president, visited New York and Washington, earlier this month, he was accompanied by three of the country's most successful internet entrepreneurs: Roberto Cibrian of El Sitio, Wenceslao Casares of Patagon.com, and Martin Varsavsky, an Argentine who recently sold his Spanish internet service provider, Ya.com to Deutsche Telkom for about $500m.. El Sitio launched its initial public offering (IPO) in December 1999 when investor enthusiasm for the Latin American internet was at its height. Its deal - which was more than 30 times oversubscribed - raised $131m and valued the company at more than $1bn, the same size as Argentina's biggest industrial companies.  Full text: The emergence of the new economy has shaken a conservative culture to its roots across Latin America, but perhaps nowhere more so than in Argentina. While conventional businesses have struggled to raise capital from their banks or on the stock market, Argentines have been at the helm of internet companies that have been among the most successful in raising funds. Three companies - El Sitio, a horizontal portal and service provider, Patagon.com, a financial services vertical portal, and Impsat, a telecommunications company that specialises in developing broadband networks - have, in different ways, seized international attention. But dozens of smaller Argentine companies have also had success in attracting backing. Between October 1999 and June this year, as many as 60 internet start-ups raised about $500m from venture capitalists. And although investors have grown more cautious in th"
"___  Document 458 of 700  In a Tight Spot, Argentina Finds Strength in Its Banks --- Recent Reforms Boost Confidence of Public, Helping Avert a Crisis  Author: By Pamela Druckerman  Publication info: Wall Street Journal , Eastern edition [New York, N.Y] 08 Dec 2000: A.15.  http://search.proquest.com/docview/398725165?accountid=28034  Abstract: Stiffer regulations and a wave of foreign acquisitions and bank closures have fortified Argentina's banking system and helped prevent the government's credit crunch from triggering a full-blown panic among ordinary Argentines. With international lenders nervous about Argentina's solvency, the International Monetary Fund is stepping in to help the government meet a slew of debt that comes due next year. The presence of foreign names like Spain's Banco Santander Central Hispano SA and HSBC PLC on the shingles of bank branches appears to give some comfort to Argentines, who once sent their money abroad or shoved it into safety-deposit boxes at the first sign of trouble. Many have switched their savings into dollar-denominated accounts while keeping their money in the same bank. Argentina's convertibility law, which fixes the Argentine peso to the U.S. dollar, permits accounts to be held in either currency. That doesn't mean banks aren't feeling the heat of the crisis, which comes amid a two-year recession. Analysts say loan growth has stalled. Pessimism about whether Argentina's economy can resume growth next year has kept the New York-traded shares of Banco Galicia and Banco Frances SA, controlled by Spain's Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA, in the doldrums.  Full text: BUENOS AIRES -- The banking sector, once Argentina's Achilles' heel in times of economic trouble, now appears to be one of the country's strong points as it tries to contain its current financial crisis. Stiffer regulations and a wave of foreign acquisitions and bank closures have fortified Argentina's banking system and helped prevent the government's credit crunch from triggering a full-blown panic among ordinary Argentines. With international lenders nervous about Argentina's solvency, the International Monetary Fund is stepping in to help the government meet a slew of debt that comes due next year. ""The fact"
"e IMF, Import Everything Else,"" Mary Anastasia O'Grady imprudently recommends that Argentine President Fernando de la Rua reduce tariffs on imported goods in order to generate trade and stimulate the economy. In fact, such ""a bold unilateral opening"" would render the country impotent at the negotiation table, dashing any hopes Buenos Aires now has of persuading the U.S. and Europe of doing away with their agricultural subsidies. Of equal importance, an ""aggressive opening"" could provoke irredeemable political and social costs in Argentina. In his determined pursuit of the fiscal discipline championed by the international financial community, Mr. de la Rua has already spent most of his first six months of residence in the Casa Rosada pushing through a number of unpopular austerity measures to reduce his country's bulging deficit. Already suffering from around 15% unemployment and the worst recession in yea"
"___  Document 629 of 700  IMF package may rescue Argentina: The deal worth nearly $40bn buys Buenos Aires time but is unlikely to restart economic growth by itself, writes Thomas Catan  Author: Catan, Thomas  Publication info: Financial Times [London (UK)] 20 Dec 2000: 10.  http://search.proquest.com/docview/248961691?accountid=28034  Abstract: Although this week's IMF-led package buys Argentina time, it is unlikely to restart economic growth by itself. Not only was Argentina unable to respond to the sudden loss of competitiveness, its currency moved steadily in the other direction. Under its currency board system, which pegs the peso to the dollar, the currency has marched steadily higher while the euro fell - squeezing the economy further. Add to that the falling price of Argentina's commodities and many economists wonder that the economy has not already collapsed. A second scenario fills officials in Washington and Buenos Aires with dread. The government fails to get co-operation from the opposition-dominated Congress and cannot implement its measures. Investors remain wary and interest rates do not come down. Confidence fades and Argentina again faces the same problems meeting its foreign debt payments - this time with no foreign backing.  Full text: After two nerve-wracking months, Argentina finally has the details of a package of financial aid that will pull it back from the brink of a potentially serious crisis. The question is now whether the package, which totals nearly $40bn, will be enough to put the struggling Argentine economy back on its feet. Should it not, analysts warn, the country might find itself in the same position in a"
"___  Document 53 of 634  Investors drive up cost of Argentina's borrowing  Author: Catan, Thomas  Publication info: Financial Times [London (UK)] 08 Nov 2000: 18.  http://search.proquest.com/docview/248966468?accountid=28034  Abstract: Argentina's domestic bor-rowing costs soared at a key Treasury auction yesterday, reflecting a surge in investor worries over its ability to service its foreign debt. Mr [Alfons]in said he had never intended his comments to be taken seriously, but the damage was done. Domestic interest rates have soared, further damaging Argentina's embattled companies and hurting efforts to lift the economy from its slump. Copyright Financial Times Limited 2000. All Rights Reserved.  Full text: Argentina's domestic bor-rowing costs soared at a key Treasury auction yesterday, reflecting a surge in investor worries over its ability to service its foreign debt. At the closely watched auction th"
", as regional governments grow concerned that the Argentine crisis could derail their own fragile recoveries. With hostility growing in international capital markets towards Argentina and other emerging markets, investors are worried the country could face a tough time raising the nearly $20bn (£14bn) it needs to finance itself to the end of next year. They are openly speculating about the possibility of a default by Argentina on its foreign obligations next year, or even a devaluation of the currency, which has been tied to the dollar for nearly "
"d by a jump in tax revenues. ""The public sector deficit is getting onto a more sustainable path,"" Mr Fischer said. He was ""very impressed"" at the government's efforts to cut costs, while strong exports were helping to improve the balance of payments ""faster than anticipated"". The country is committed to squeezing down its fiscal deficit from $7.1bn in 1999 to $4.7bn this year under the terms of its standy loan agreement with the IMF. The economy has been struggling to shake off a recession that saw gross domestic product shrink by 3 per cent last year, and domestic demand has remained depressed. There had been an ""excessive reaction of confidence"" based on the June figures, Mr Fischer warned. Copyright Financial Times Limited 2000. All Rights Reserved.  "
"ing four in Buenos Aires, the country's most populous province. The company entered Argentina five years ago and considers it an important growth market; it had planned to open four additional stores there in the next two to three years. The bill is being hammered out in the Buenos Aires provincial congress, and a final draft should reach Buenos Aires Gov. Carlos Ruckauf any day. If the bill is approved, Wal-Mart officials say the company, which employs 2,000 people in Buenos Aires, will be forced to halt its expansion there. The company said it fears other provinces will follow suit, shutting down its expansion countrywide. ""In countries where we do business, 11 stores is not our goal,"" says Jay Allen, Wal-Mart's vice president of corporate affairs. ""The bigger we are, the more economies of scale we can derive, which allows us to drive costs out of the business and pass the savings onto the consumer."" A spokesman for Gov. Ruckauf said the governor hasn't taken a position on the bill. ""This is a proposal from local businesses that see their sales threatened,"" said the spokesman, Juan Carlos Ruiz. ""But at no time has the governor issued an opinion on the proposal or said he would opt for it."" Mr. Ruiz said that in general the governor was interested in attracting jobs and investment to the state. The discussion over the retail law reflects a broader economic debate in Argentina over how the country can best escape its economic doldrums. Some Argentine politicians are supporting protectionist and interventionist measures designed to nurture domestic industries even if that means penalizing multinationals. Other Argentine leaders say that massive foreign investment is the answer to Argentina's woes and that the country's policy-makers need to bend over backward to please multinational companies. The debate is giving investors mixed signals. Argentina has sent delegations to meet with U.S. businesses and investment banks to encourage them to invest in the country. ""Here is a country that is going on road shows for international investment, and yet they're looking at this kind of action, "
"Argentina have also reached a compromise on the vexed issue of how to solve trade disputes within Mercosur. Argentina has long wanted a permanent tribunal, instead of the current, tentative, arrangement of assembling an ad hoc panel for each case. But Brazil,jealous of its sovereignty, has claimed to see in this an expensive, Brusselsstyle bureaucracy. The countries have now agreed to assemble a duty roster of judges, who would be available to serve on panels for perhaps two years at a stretch, to help develop ""jurisprudence"", as Debora Giorgi, Argentina's trade secretary, puts it. Another point of deadlock has been measures to ensure competition. Argentina wants curbs on investment incentives, to halt the (albeit modest) flow of firms being enticed to Brazil by tax breaks, free land and other handouts. Brazil wants an end to ""antidumping"" measures within the group, such as Argentina's threatened textile quotas. Brazilian officials believe such measures encourage the United States to make dubious claims of dumping, for instance, against Brazilian steel. A third element would be a common policy on unfair trading. Such matters would require enforcement by some sort of supranational authority, as Luiz Felipe Lampreia, Brazil's foreign minister, admits. That is one reason why they have long languished on Mercosur's agenda. But the new plan to negotiate all these issues in a single package increases the chances of success, according to Felix Pena, one of Ms Giorgi's predecessors. Meanwhile, producers in ""sensitive"" industries, from chicken to shoes, will continue to be encouraged to reach private deals in which Brazilian firms limit their market share while Argentine ones improve productivity. Ms Giorgi says the two governments will ensure that such deals are temporary, and that restructuring does happen. Where does that leave Mercosur's smaller members? Shut out of a market stitched up by the giants, worries Sergio Abreu, Uruguay's industry minister. Uruguay has so far refused to back the Argentine-Brazilian car deal, which imposes a 35% tariff on non-Mercosur cars from 2006. Complicated though such matters are, at least Mercosur is moving again. But further progress is likely to depend on economic performance. Meeting the ""mini-Maastricht"" targets will involve sticking to, and even toughening, unpopular austerity programmes, and approving difficult domestic reforms. Neither Argentina nor Brazil may find that very appealing.  "
"ve a sense of greater unity. The government has made progress towards securing the agreement of opposition deputies - who control congress - for its budget plans. The government also enjoys popular backing for its commitment to retain the currency board: devaluation would increase the risk of higher inflation. It would also trigger massive debt problems for the many individuals and businesses that have borrowed in dollars. There is a chance that Argentina could climb out of its predicament without the help of international financial institutions. Rises in commodity prices, a fall in the dollar and a stronger euro would all help exporters and reduce dependence on external financing. Some argue that a change in the economic team might help engender investor confidence and make it easier for Argentina to borrow. There are hopes too that fresh investment in the telecommunications industry, which has been opened up to new competition this month, could stimulate growth. So far, though, Mr De la Rua has not been able to arrest the slump in confidence. Yields on dollar bonds have risen by more than 3 percentage points in the last five weeks. Even domestic borrowing could prove difficult. On Tuesday, the government was forced to pay interest rates of 16 per cent for one-year Treasury bills - nearly double the rate paid when similar bills were last auctioned in July. The extra interest costs on the domestic issue are equal to about $40m a year. The country's GDP is about $290bn. Investors have been very sensitive to any signs of dissent. Two weeks ago, off-the-cuff remarks about the advantages of a debt moratorium by Raul Alfonsin, the former president and head of Mr De la Rua's own party, sent bond prices plummeting. It is highly unlikely that the government would ever willingly undertake to devalue its currency or default on its foreign obligations. The worry now is that, with the government forced to pay ever higher rates just to roll over maturing debt, the debt problem itself could start to spiral. ""I would say that the likelihood of a rescue package being necessary has increased very substantially, because the dynamics of the market have taken on their own momentum,"" says Mr Freisinger. From the IMF's point of view, however, such a rescue raises thorny issues. Since the Russian crisis the IMF has tried to avoid the unconditional bailouts of the past, which were widely blamed for encouraging risky lending. In Ukraine, Pakistan and Ecuador, multilateral lenders demanded that private creditors ""share the pain"" in any rescue - and now Argentina's bondholders are frightened that they may again be asked to take a loss. In Argentina's case, however, it is hard to see how the IMF could justify such a ""bail-in"". In its latest report on the country, it gave Argentina as close as one could get to a clean bill of health, lauding its record on reform. It could not therefore argue that investors were rash to have lent to the country. For the moment, Mr De la Rua and his ministers will press on. Daniel Marx, the minister responsible for public debt, is confident that the government will get there. But the one certainty - as he himself puts it - is that there will be ""some worrying times"" along the way. Copyright Financial Times Limited 2000. All Rights Reserved.  "
"___  Document 660 of 700  U.S., Argentina to Focus on Air Pact Rift --- De La Rua to Discuss Treaty With Clinton; Protectionism Is at Issue  Author: By Wall Street Journal staff reporters Craig Torres in Buenos Aires and Keith Johnson in Madrid  Publication info: Wall Street Journal , Eastern edition [New York, N.Y] 12 June 2000: A24.  http://search.proquest.com/docview/398785554?accountid=28034  Abstract: During his first state visit to the U.S., Argentine President Fernando de la Rua will address several important bilateral issues with President Clinton this week. The most closely watched negotiations involve an air-traffic treaty that has come to symbolize the protectionist currents within Mr. de la Rua's center-left coalition. Mr. de la Rua surprised U.S. officials in February by suspending a so-called open-skies agreement with Washington signed by his predecessor. The pact called for a steady increase of flights on booming U.S.-Argentina routes through 2003, when all restrictions on traffic would be lifted. The treaty was expected to give Delta Air Lines and Continental Airlines entry to Argentina -- AMR Corp's American Airlines unit and UAL Corp.'s United Airlines are the only U.S. airlines that service the market now -- while Argentine consumers would enjoy lower international fares brought about by added seat capacity. But the agreement also would have pushed the money-losing Argentine carrier Aerolineas Argentinas closer to the brink.  Full text: During his first state visit to the U.S., Argentine President Fernando de la Rua will address several important bilateral issues with President Clinton this week. The most closely watched negotiations involve an air-traffic treaty that has come to symbolize the protectionist currents within Mr. de la Rua's center-left coalition. Mr. de la Rua surprised U.S. officials in February by suspending a so-called open-skies agreement with Washington signed by his predecessor. The pact called for a steady increase of flights on booming U.S.-Argentina routes through 2003, when all restrictions on traffic would be lifted. The treaty was expected to give Delta Air Lines and Continental Airlines entry to Argentina -- AMR"
"___  Document 139 of 634  Breathing space may be the answer: DEBT by Thomas Catan: The country needs to keep its fiscal deficit in check, but most importantly, it needs to see some growth soon  Author: Catan, Thomas  Publication info: Financial Times [London (UK)] 26 Sep 2000: 02.  http://search.proquest.com/docview/248859689?accountid=28034  Abstract: ""Argentina's dollarisation - short of full monetary union - would not have a significant impact on the credit quality of the country,"" Moody's wrote in a detailed analysis last year. ""Ultimately, Argentina's fundamental creditworthiness would continue to be largely determined by its fiscal performance, the country's ability to generate net exports and attract foreign capital inflows, all instrumental in the face of an externally determined money supply."" One option to break the pattern - which, after all, threatens to become a self-fulfilling prophecy - is to try to shift the market's focus away from the fiscal deficit. Some economists now think that, if explained properly and carried out with IMF approval, the market could be persuaded to give Argentina some room on the fiscal front. For what investors really want to see in Argentina - the thinking goes - is growth. Many analysts now believe that Argentina should get some breathing space to cut taxes and to get the economy moving. So neither dollarisation nor devaluation are the real issues, says Richard Madigan, director of Latin American investments at Offitbank. The debate on Argentina should now centre on ""the administration's willingness to accept (well-earned and deserved) support - and breathing space - from the multilaterals, to work itself out of its current economic malaise"". Copyright Financial Times Limited 2000. All Rights Reserved.  Full text: With most emerging markets now pulling out of recession, international investors have begun to focus with some concern on Argentina's debt. It is perhaps easy to see why. Argentina is one of the largest emerging market borrowers. Even after reductions in its weighting, the country still makes up around 20 per cent of JP Morgan's Emerging Market Bond Index Global. Argentina has long been a favourite in international capital markets for its good record of repayment and efficient borrowing practices. But its lacklustre growth and worries about the direction of some of its debt ratios mean that investors are demanding high returns. Recently, Argentine bonds were trading at 684 basis points over US Treasuries, according to the EMBI Global "
"cure a waiver for exceeding last year's $5.1bn deficit target set with the IMF. The tax increases and a cost-cutting budget may help ease investors' concerns over the deficit and the issue of governability. The new government lacks an outright majority in Congress' lower house and is outgunned by the opposition Peronists in the Senate, while the country's most powerful provinces also remain in Peronist hands. Analysts say there is still much investor scepticism to overcome. ""Investors are just not giving Argentina the benefit of the doubt,"" said Walter Molano, head of research at BCP Securities. ""People are patently pessimistic. They see the financing task as very high."" On the positive side, the economy is climbing out of a recession which wiped more than 3 per cent off GDP last year. ""The economic recovery is clearly in place,"" said Arturo Porzecanski, chief economist for the Americas at ING Barings. ""If Argentina had proper US-style statistics, we would see that the recession ended months ago."" Copyright Financial Times Limited 2000. All Rights Reserved.  "
"says Ms. Pertierra. Spurred over the past decade by the end of militarism and the spread of free-market economics throughout Latin America, Brazil and Argentina moved to bury the hatchet to form Mercosur. The initial results were spectacular. From 1991 to 1998, trade between Brazil and Argentina, Mercosur's dominant members, expanded fivefold to $15 billion. Cross-border cooperation flourished in other areas, including joint military exercises and exchanges of priceless artworks. The Argentine government even sponsored a samba club during Brazilian Carnaval. But the good feelings have faded since last year's currency devaluation in Brazil, which sent its economy into a brief but painful recession. In essence, the devaluation was a bold gamble by Brazil that it could spur economic growth by slashing manufacturing costs. Argentina, by contrast, has chosen a different approach, betting on attracting investors with the promise of monetary stability. Now, it looks like Brazil's wager is the one that's paying off. The Union Industrial Argentina, a lobbying group for national industries, says the country has lost 250,000 jobs directly and indirectly due to the Brazilian devaluation and industrial incentives. While Brazilian economists call such numbers grossly exaggerated, Argentine unemployment has soared to 14% and is expected to worsen. Meanwhile, Brazil may be turning a corner on its own unemployment problem. For the first time in four years, a recent survey by Sao Paulo's Banco Industrial showed that Brazilian companies were adding to payrolls. The auto business, beset by slumping demand and overcapacity throughout Mercosur, is the sector where Argentina's losses are most evident. ""Your whole cost base in Argentina, because of all the fixed costs, really didn't allow you to do any profitable business,"" says Volker Barth, president of South America operations for Delphi Automotive Systems Corp. Many auto-related businesses in Argentina, he says, just became unviable. While Delphi is hiring workers again in Brazil, it is walking away from a four-year-old plant that employed 1,500 in the central Argentine factory town of Rio Segundo. The human impact in the Argentine rust belt has been clear. As Julio Todesco, human-resources director for Rio Segundo and a former Delphi worker himself, drives his aged car to the dowdy municipal building, he is besieged by job seekers. ""I try to help some of them,"" he says. ""But some of their problems are beyond my reach."" Constant rumors of sightings of Brazilian industrial promoters, supposedly seeking to snatch another factory, keep the population on edge. ""They have eaten our industry,"" says Omar Dragun, a local labor leader. ""Instead of eliminating our border with Brazil, we are going to make it tougher."" Brazil's devaluation may have been the biggest cause of Rio Segundo's woes, but the Argentine government's industrial policy also bears part of the blame. Consider Fiat SpA's car and truck plant. The Italian auto maker's plant, a 40-minute drive up the road, is a prime customer of local parts makers. Fiat says the government's practice of sheltering steelmakers from foreign competition forces it and other auto makers to pay prices for steel that are 27% higher than in Brazil. Transport costs in Argentina are twice as high as Brazil's because of exorbitant insurance premiums, fuel taxes and other costs. To top things off, the Argentine government has been late in delivering more than $100 million in tax reimbursements it owes Fiat for certain exports that are tax-exempt. Despite a fierce cost-cutting program on many production lines, ""we still can't compete against Brazil,"" says Fiat executive Eduardo Bischoff. The plant is operating way below its capacity and has dragged parts suppliers down with it. Back in Rio Segundo, Mayor Victor Lizzul is devising an alternative survival strategy: peanuts. He says some of the former Delphi workers may find work at a peanut-processing plant that Rio Segundo has persuaded a British company, Q Peanuts Ltd., to locate there. ""I always tell the governor: agriculture,"" the mayor says. ""That is the place where we should be."" (See related letter: ""Letters to the Editor: Brazil and Argentina Are Working Together"" -- WSJ May 8, 2000) (See related letter: ""Letters to the Editor: Devaluing Currency Is a Fool's Game"" -- WSJ May 12, 2000) Credit: Staff Reporters of The Wall Street Journal  "
"orked his way up the Argentine bureaucracy rather than being groomed in the culture of high finance at an investment firm or a multilateral agency in Washington. The 54-year-old spent much of his career rising through the ranks of Argentina's Central Bank or teaching graduate-school courses in macroeconomics. Though he holds an economics doctorate from the University of Minnesota, his spoken English lacks the polish that often puts foreign investors at ease. ""They just do not come in and take the room by storm,"" says a New York stock strategist who has met Mr. Machinea and his team a half-dozen times since they took office late last year under President Fernando De la Rua. ""It creates the impression that they're just not in control of things -- even though they probably are."" Wall Street's reading of Mr. Machinea isn't based merely on his uninspiring style. Some economists doubt that his current economic prescriptions -- including a radical pension-fund reform and a five-year government-spending freeze -- will succeed in bringing down interest rates to trigger investment and get the economy growing again. ""No one knows for sure whether it will be enough or not,"" says Lacey Gallagher, director of Latin economic research at Credit Suisse First Boston Corp. Mr. Machinea also has had to shake off his legacy as Central Bank chief during the late 1980s, when Argentina's economy was paralyzed by hyperinflation. A few years later, Economy Minister Domingo Cavallo, a legend on Wall Street, stepped in and pegged Argentina's currency to the U.S. dollar. The new system crushed inflation by banning the Central Bank from printing money to pay its bills. Some investors have called for Mr. Machinea to be replaced by Mr. Cavallo, now a congressman who heads his own opposition party, or by Ricardo Lopez Murphy, an outspoken economist who is now minister of defense. But Mr. De la Rua, whose popularity has been badly sapped by the corruption scandal and recession, appears content with a hard-working deputy who is unlikely to upstage him and has no apparent presidential aspirations. In an address to the nation last month, the president dispelled rumors that Mr. Machinea was on his way out. Credit: Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal  "
"___  Document 647 of 700  Madrid $1bn for Argentina NEWS DIGEST  Author: Catan, Thomas; Crawford, Leslie  Publication info: Financial Times [London (UK)] 13 Dec 2000: 13.  http://search.proquest.com/docview/248980756?accountid=28034  Abstract: Rodrigo Rato, the Spanish economy minister, yesterday announced that Madrid would contribute $1bn towards the International Monetary Fund's rescue package for Argentina. Mr Rato said Spain was the only country that had agreed to join the bail-out.  Ful"
" a potential crisis could also have repercussions far beyond the region. Argentine debt accounts for between a quarter and a fifth of tradable emerging market debt - its debt is widely held by investors all over the world. In the extreme case that Argentina was unable to meet its obligations, the effect could eclipse even the financial panic produced by Russia's debt default two years ago. ""If something were to go horribly wrong in Argentina, I believe it would be the end of emerging markets as we know them,"" says Arturo Porzecanski, Latin America economist at ABN Amro, who is nevertheless not predicting such an outcome. ""The exposure to Argentina in the fixed-income market is huge relative to what the exposure was in Russia."" It was Russia's actions that sparked the chain of events leading to Argentina's current problems. Like other emerging markets, Argentina was badly affected when investors abandoned high-risk investments. Brazil, Argentina's neighbour and largest trading partner, was forced to devalue in January last year, putting Argentina's economy under even greater strain. Because the country's currency regime keeps the peso tied to the dollar under a currency board, Argentina was unable to react to the loss of competitiveness or the spiralling cost of financing. The result was that the country's economy contracted by more than 3 per cent last year. Argentina had been expected to recover this year, but a series of external shocks has troubled the new government. Since it took over in December, Fernando de la Rua's centrist administration has had to cope with further falls in the prices of its commodity exports such as wheat and soya. The dollar has also strengthened, the euro has weakened and international interest rates have risen - all of which have further undermined the country's competitiveness. To cap the economic team's run of bad luck, high-yield bond markets have virtually dried up in the last month. Investors have curtailed lending to any borrower perceived as high risk - either corporate or sovereign - in recent months. ""You've had an unparalleled set of real shocks hitting Argentina,"" says Francis Freisinger, senior Latin American economist at Merrill Lynch. ""In many senses, it has dealt with them better than anybody would have expected."" Economists have been revising their growth estimates downwards - this year's expansion of less than 1 per cent will mean that per capita growth will again be negative. Already high levels of unemployment have risen further and many businesses are having to cut wages in order to survive. Opinion polls show that disillusionment with the liberal economic model introduced in the 1990s is increasing. Partly as a result, Mr De la Rua's governing coalition of centre-left Radicals and the leftist Frepaso party has been beset by tension and division. The two-party coalition elected a year ago proved unwieldy and aimless during its first months in office, which were marked by public squabbling between ministers over the course of economic policy. It is not all bad, however. Mr De la Rua has reshuffled his cabinet in an effort to forge greater cohesion. Last month's appointment of Chrystian Colombo, a former banker, as cabinet chief appears to have helped stream line the decision-making process and gi"
"f between $20bn and $30bn. ""I'm very pleased and I hope it's approved in detail soon,"" said Jose Luis Machinea, economy minister, after the dawn vote that followed a tense, all-night session. The government expected final line-by-line approval on the budget later in the day, after which it will move to the Senate, where the government is in a minority. Earlier this week, it was forced to backtrack on virtually all of the $700m in planned spending cuts due to tough opposition from Congress. Passage of the budget is one of several hurdles to be overcome in order to unlock a package of international aid led by the International Monetary Fund. Another - the deregulation of the union-run public healthcare system - was expected to be passed by presidential decree either yesterday or today, government officials said. Yesterday, Mr Machinea said the rescue package was just days away. ""We will have the figure in no more than a week, and disbursement will begin before the end of December,"" Mr Machinea told a local radio station. Another finance official said the country would draw an immediate $2b"
"___  Document 679 of 700  Argentina closer to IMF terms  Author: Catan, Thomas  Publication info: Financial Times [London (UK)] 30 Nov 2000: 03.  http://search.proquest.com/docview/249026929?accountid=28034  Abstract: An IMF mission arrived in Buenos Aires yesterday to hammer out the final details of the package and discuss the country's compliance with the conditions of the aid. Argentina accounts for up to a quarter of tradeable emerging market debt worldwide, leading to fears of contagion if it were to be forced into default. After more than two years of economic recession, investors became alarmed last month that Argentina might be unable to raise the nearly $20bn it needs next year to keep servicing its foreign debt. The resulting crisis of confidence forced Argentina to turn to the IMF for help in meeting payment on its $123.5bn in foreign debt. Copyright Financial Times Limited 2000. All Rights Reserved.  Full text: Argentina's lower house yesterday approved the broad outline of the government's 2001 budget, bringing the country one step closer to an international rescue package o"
" 28 bilateral agreement aimed at establishing common macroeconomic targets for the four member states are, in the article in question, submerged beneath a long recitation of parochial and outdated complaints that certainly do not reflect the present positions of the main actors in the integration process. The governments and the most important business sector entities are working together in this endeavor, building a deep union by means of the establishment of important joint mechanisms that will foster solutions to the present and future trade frictions among the four countries. It should not be necessary to tell North Americans, who are implementing the Nafta agreements, how normal such frictions are in a close economic relationship among different markets. Rubens Antonio Barbosa Ambassador Brazilian Embassy Washington  "
"___  Document 315 of 634  Argentina claims it has shaken off recession  Author: Warn, Ken  Publication info: Financial Times [London (UK)] 05 July 2000: 09.  http://search.proquest.com/docview/248981068?accountid=28034  Abstract: Officials from President Fernando de la Rua downwards also claim a decision by Peugeot-Citroen, the French carmaker, to increase the working capital of its Argentine subsidiary by over $400m is a sign of strengthening confidence in the economy. The company aims to double car production in Argentina. Copyright Financial Times Limited 2000. All Rights Reserved.  Full text: Argentine officials are hailing a sharp rise in tax revenues and an apparent increase in investment as fresh evidence that the economy has finally shaken off a recession which cut GDP by 3 per cent last year. Tax revenues in June r"
"___  Document 37 of 634  Argentine president tries to sell emergency measures: Wide support for a package to restore investor confidence is critical to secure an IMF rescue plan, write Thomas Catan, Stephen Fidler and Richard Lapper:  Author: Fidler, Stephen; Lapper, Richard  Publication info: Financial Times [London (UK)] 13 Nov 2000: 08.  http://search.proquest.com/docview/249070241?accountid=28034  Abstract: Having secured promises of international support, Argentina's President Fernando de la Rua spent the weekend locked in meetings with opposition legislators and provincial governors to secure their backing for a package of emergency measures. Argentina currently has a $7.2bn standby loan facility with the IMF, of which it has immediate access to $2bn. Mr Kohler said that after negotiations, which could be completed quickly, the fund would be willing to let Argentina draw on its credit line, which the government had been treating as precautionary. Argentine officials said they had also worked to gain a commitment from a group of local banks acting as ""market makers"" for the government's debt issues to support their financing programme next year. Argentine pension funds might also play a role in the rescue.  Full text: Having secured promises of international support, Argentina's President Fernando de la Rua spent the weekend locked in meetings with opposition legislators and provincial governors to secure their backing for a package of emergency measures. The measures, announced late on Friday, are aimed at restoring investor confidence in the country and will pave the way for an international rescue package that could total more than $15bn (£10.5bn). The International Monetary Fund expressed its backing for Mr De la Rua's measures and confirmed that an international rescue deal was in the works. Horst Kohler, IMF managing director, said that the steps should ""give new momentum to a growth-oriented polic"
"e government was forced to pay between 13 and 16 per cent in interest to sell $1.1bn (£764m) in Treasury bills. On average, investors demanded around 3.5 percentage points more than they did at the last auction on October 24, which was already considered high. Following more than two years of economic stagnation, investors are worried that Argentina faces difficulties making interest payments on its $123.5bn in foreign debt. The country must raise nearly $20bn next year at a time when capital markets are hostile towards emerging-market countries. In Argentina political upheaval has combined with comments by a former president on the foreign debt to unsettle international investors. Spreads on a basket of Argentine bonds tracked by J.P. Morgan have shot out by about 230 basis points in the past month. Given the difficulties in international capital markets, the government was seeking to raise about $4bn at h"
"e wake of the correction in the Nasdaq in April many others are still seeking to follow suit. According to one recent study, Argentina is home to 325,000 internet domains, the fifth highest in the world, and 11 of the 15 most visited Spanish-language sites are Argentine. There are several reasons why Argentina and especially its capital city, Buenos Aires, has become a centre for internet activity in the region. The most obvious is that education levels are higher than in many neighbouring countries. ""There is a high level of access to information and technology and a penchant for gizmos,"" says Daniel Korn, an American Buenos Aires-based lawyer who counts as many as 200 start-ups among is clients. Recession - the Argentine economy contracted by 3 per cent in 1999 - is another reason. Mr Korn says that with between one in six and one in seven people unemployed, the entrepreneurial spirit of the internet can be ""a passport out of this terrible recession. A lot of people are trying hard to find their footing."" Argentina's telecommunications infrastructure is relatively sophisticated. Cell phone penetration is the second or third highest in the world after the US and there are more cable lines than anywhere else in the region. And official backing has also helped. Just over two months ago the state-owned Banco de la Nacion announced it was making available $1bn in low interest rate personal loans to allow Argentines to buy computers. When Fernando de la Rua, the Argentine president, visited New York and Washington, earlier this month, he was accompanied by three of the country's most successful internet entrepreneurs: Roberto Cibrian of El Sitio, Wenceslao Casares of Patagon.com, and Martin Varsavsky, an Argentine who recently sold his Spanish internet service provider, Ya.com to Deutsche Telkom for about $500m.. Argentine entrepreneurs have had better timing than some of their rivals elsewhere in Latin America . El Sitio launched its initial public offering (IPO) in December 1999 when investor enthusiasm for the Latin American internet was at its height. Its deal - which was more than 30 times oversubscribed - raised $13"
"___  Document 101 of 650  Argentine Unions Threaten Strike on Labor Bill --- One-Day Walkout Could Sap Effort To Achieve Reform  Author: By Craig Torres  Publication info: Wall Street Journal , Eastern edition [New York, N.Y] 23 Feb 2000: A17.  http://search.proquest.com/docview/398754076?accountid=28034  Abstract: Labor reform is a sensitive issue in Argentina, where unemployment is estimated at 14.4% and yet wage costs are stubbornly high. The International Monetary Fund and other creditors insist that Argentina needs more-flexible labor markets to complement its rigid exchange-rate system, which pegs the peso to the dollar, and to keep its goods competitive in export markets. Other countries, such as Brazil and Mexico, have cut wage costs through currency devaluations. But Argentine finance officials reject that option, fearing hyperinflation; so instead, they must lower costs through deregulation and more competition.  Full text: BUENOS AIRES -- Argentine President Fernando de la Rua is in a showdown with two big labor federations here that threaten to paralyze the country tomorrow afternoon with a strike to protest a bold labor-reform bill. Negotiations with the labor groups are expected to continue today. If an accord isn't reached, the labor federations say thousands of workers will march on the capital, halti"
"___  Document 44 of 634  Argentina's troubles: Investors are worried that the country will soon have trouble servicing its sizeable debts amid political divisions and an economic downturn, say Thomas Catan and Richard Lapper:  Author: Catan, Thomas; Lapper, Richard  Publication info: Financial Times [London (UK)] 10 Nov 2000: 26.  http://search.proquest.com/docview/248880096?accountid=28034  Abstract: ""If something were to go horribly wrong in Argentina, I believe it would be the end of emerging markets as we know them,"" says Arturo Porzecanski, Latin America economist at ABN Amro, who is nevertheless not predicting such an outcome. ""The exposure to Argentina in the fixed-income market is huge relative to what the exposure was in Russia."" It was Russia's actions that sparked the chain of events leading to Argentina's current problems. Like other emerging markets, Argentina was badly affected when investors abandoned high-risk investments. Brazil, Argentina's neighbour and largest trading partner, was forced to devalue in January last year, putting Argentina's economy under even greater strain. Because the country's currency regime keeps the peso tied to the dollar under a currency board, Argentina was unable to react to the loss of competitiveness or the spiralling cost of financing. The result was that the country's economy contracted by more than 3 per cent last year. There is a chance that Argentina could climb out of its predicament without the help of international financial institutions. Rises in commodity prices, a fall in the dollar and a stronger euro would all help exporters and reduce dependence on external financing. Some argue that a change in the economic team might help engender investor confidence and make it easier for Argentina to borrow. There are hopes too that fresh investment in the telecommunications industry, which has been opened up to new competition this month, could stimulate growth.  Full text: For the best part of a decade, Argentina has been an emerging markets success story. The country's enthusiastic embrace of privatisation, fiscal austerity and liberal economic reforms has won it friends on Wall Street and made it a favourite of the International Monetary Fund. Its economic stability is underpinned by a solid banking system and a steady currency - in sharp contrast to the economic turmoil of the late 1980s, when shopkeepers adjusted prices daily and annual rates of inflation reached 5,000 per cent. But there are now worries in financial markets that the country could be heading towards a crisis just as dangerous as those that hit Mexico in 1994 and Brazil early last year. In recent weeks investors have sold Argentine bonds, fearful that the country may have trouble raising the nearly $20bn it needs next year to service its foreign debt. Domestic interest rates have risen to levels last seen following Mexico's crisis and there has been a flurry of meetings between members of Argentina's economic team, the IMF and the US Treasury, giving rise to speculation - denied by all parties - about a $15bn rescue package. The stakes are high. If Argentina's problems get worse, other Latin American countries could be affected. Brazil's currency is at its weakest level in more than a year and its bond yields have risen. But"
"for 4 per cent next year, but economists are sceptical. Projected earnings growth for Argentine companies next year is around 2 per cent, against 16 per cent in Mexico and 21 per cent in Brazil. And although valuations have declined over the past two years, they are not necessarily bargains by international standards. Add to that an uncertain political climate - with the future of the ruling coalition in doubt following the resignation of the country's vice-president on Friday - and investors have little reason to entertain the country in their plans this year. ""That's one of the problems of the Argentine market,"" said Ian Laming at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. ""There's not much growth in Argentina and yet the valuations aren't much lower than in Brazil or Mexico."" Even before the latest political crisis, Mr Laming said he had Argentina at around half its normal weighting. And like many investors, he is not too worried he will miss out on any eventual recovery. ""Even if I thought the valuations were cheap - which quite frankly I'm not convinced about - I'm not coming away thinking: 'Wow, what a great place to be'."" Indeed, the most pessimistic assessments of Argentina's prospects come from investors, who see precious few opportunities to make money in its markets. That is reflected in Argentine risk: some Argentine bonds are trading at wider spreads than Brazil's, but that does not mean the country is facing an economic crisis, as has periodically been suggested. Though it is clearly struggling through tough times, both politically and economically, the currency board appears solid and its debt situation sustainable. Standard & Poor's surprised market"
"s than 0.5 per cent this year. In October, a political crisis nearly split the two-party coalition in power, further damaging fragile confidence in the country. Cut off from international capital markets, Argentina faced big problems refinancing its $15.3bn in debt coming due next year, let alone meeting its total financing requirement of some $26bn when short-term debt is included. Argentina now hopes that the new aid package will restore confidence in the country, bringing down interest rates and helping kickstart the economy. Of the total aid package, some $25.4bn will be available before the end of 2001, the government said, covering virtually all of its financing requirements. A senior government official said that Argentina would draw $2.1bn from its existing IMF loan agreement ""in the next few days"", followed by up to $3bn in January, after the new aid is agreed by the IMF board. Today, Argentine finance officials will conduct a conference call to explain the aid package to investors around the world. Tomorrow Mr Machinea and Daniel Marx, the financing secretary, will also meet a range of opinion formers in New York, including international ratings agencies. Officials must now convince them that they have ruled out the possibility of default. Copyright Financial Times Limited 2000. All Rights Reserved.  "
"t he found was that over half of all Latin American internet sites - in Spanish or Portuguese - had originated in Argentina. That was before April's correction in the Nasdaq which, as elsewhere, brought the euphoria of the Argentine internet party to an abrupt halt. Mr Bort and others now estimate that the proportion of Argentina's internet businesses is likely to be substantially smaller. Now the noise has subsided, however, it is useful to see what has really been left behind in Argentina; what was not nourished merely by hype. The answer is that there are still some deals getting done, though fewer and at far more realistic valuations. And they are likely to be ideas that have global - not just regional - ambitions. Gustavo Garrido, a partner at Buenos Aires law firm Allende & Brea, says that of the 228 internet start-ups they work with, 10 are currently negotiating a round of financing. The principal areas of interest are infrastructure, software and wireless. In other words, they are now far less likely to be the regional, content-driven sites that used to stimulate such excitement in Argentina, and more likely to be good ideas that just happen to be based in Buenos Aires. Why Buenos Aires? Well, it seems that even after the market called an end to the internet party, there are important factors that make Argentina an attractive place to set up shop - factors that help explain why Argentina has played a larger role in the development of the internet in the region than one would expect, given the size of its economy. One factor is the level of education, which is still far in advance of other many Latin American nations. An internet company looking for technology talent could do far worse than find a home in Argentina, particularly when such brains are in short supply in the US. Infrastructure changes Second, the communications infrastructure is relatively advanced. Phones are, by and large, dependable, and the ongoing deregulation of services is set to cut costs sharply. As for broadband infrastructure, hardly a day seems to go by when one of the many companies wiring up South America doesn't dig up a street to lay more fibre optic cable. In that sense, Argentina also has an advantage. The country has among the highest penetrations of cable television in the world - which, with some tweaking, can become the broadband network of tomorrow. ""Infrastructure is c"
"___  Document 457 of 700  Argentine Finance Minister's Style Leaves Investors Wary --- Some Economists Doubt His Moves Will Lower Rates and Spur Growth  Author: By Pamela Druckerman  Publication info: Wall Street Journal , Eastern edition [New York, N.Y] 11 Dec 2000: A.34.  http://search.proquest.com/docview/398903742?accountid=28034  Abstract: The stolid style of Mr. [Jose Luis Machinea],, a career academic and central-bank bureaucrat, has become a stumbling block for Argentina as it fights off a fierce financial crisis. Even though Mr. Machinea seems on the verge of cobbling together a package of economic reforms, along with emergency loans from the International Monetary Fund, many foreign observers say they lack confidence in him. ""One of his biggest weaknesses is the communications front,"" says Walter Molano, head of research at BCP Securities Inc. The international spotlight fell on Argentina and Mr. Machinea in October, when a corruption scandal prompted the resignation of Argentina's vice president. With a recession already in full force, investors began to grow nervous over Argentina's $19.5 billion debt bill for 2001, and in a matter of weeks Argentina was priced out of the international bond markets. As the crisis unfolded, some Wall Street traders were perturbed that Mr. Machinea dispatched his deputy to New York to talk to them, instead of immediately coming himself. Back home, in an apparent effort to show that the government was leveling with investors, he repeatedly revised down Argentina's growth estimates. Last week, with the country on the verge of clinching the IMF-led package, which could total $20 billion to $30 billion, Mr. Machinea announced that gross domestic product would be flat for the fourth quarter. ""Events of the last 45 days have deteriorated an economy that was growing very little, and it is hard to believe there will be a positive growth rate in the fourth quarter,"" he said.  Full text: BUENOS AIRES -- In an era when finance ministers must function as salesmen to high-powered Wall Street traders, Argentine Economy Minister Jose Luis Machinea has shown himself to be something less than the Great Communicator. The stolid style of Mr. Machinea, a career academic and central-bank bureaucr"
" real growth. If not, the IMF and US Treasury fear the country could find itself in the same frightening situation a year hence. On a visit to Buenos Aires this week, Timothy Geithner, US Treasury under-secretary, took a keen interest in how the government planned to kick-start growth in the coming year. In that, Mr Geithner is not alone. ""When the dust settles, the question will return: 'how much can this economy grow?',"" said Andres Lederman, Argentina economist at Salomon Smith Barney in New York. Following Russia's disastrous debt default more than two years ago, Argentina's economy slipped into recession, contracting by more than 3 per cent in 1999. This year, the economy is projected to grow by just 0.5 per cent. Some external factors that have hurt Argentina's economy, such as high US interest rates and the falling value of the euro, are at long last beginning to revert, providing some relief for the country's struggling economy. On the other hand, investors have fled risky credits worldwide in recent months, making it harder for the country to raise cheap financing next year. ""Although the upcoming IMF package is great news for Argentina, the problems in the medium term still remain to be solved,"" JP Morgan wrote to clients this week. Copyright Financial Times Limited 2000. All Rights Reserved.  "
rgentine officials are hailing a sharp rise in tax revenues and an apparent increase in investment...  Full text: Argentina upbeat on economy Argentine officials are hailing a sharp rise in tax r
"evenues and an apparent increase in investment as evidence that the economy has finally shaken off a recession. The Americas, Page 6 Copyright Financial Times Limited 2000. All Rights Reserved.  "
"___  Document 470 of 700  Argentina to Get Cash As Part of IMF Effort To Bail Out Economy  Publication info: Wall Street Journal , Eastern edition [New York, N.Y] 28 Nov 2000: B.20.  http://search.proquest.com/docview/398792245?accountid=28034  Abstract: Mr. [Mario Vicens] also said the IMF has given a thumbs up to Argentina's plan to all but eliminate previously planned spending cuts from the 2001 budget bill, the passage of which has been mandated by the lending organization. The Economy Ministry said late Friday the 2001 budget would contain less than $100 million in spending cuts instead of the $600 million previously announced.  Full text: BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) -- Part of the financial-aid package led by the Intern"
" fall by as much as 50% over the next 18 months. ""We are going to be very aggressive,"" added Mr. Machinea, a 53-year-old economist with a doctorate from the University of Minnesota. At least one big U.S. company thinks Argentina's highly protected playing field will change in favor of competition: Last week, AT&T Corp., New York, purchased Keytech LD, an Argentine company that will compete in local, national and international long-distance telephone service, as well as Internet, data and fixed wireless services. AT&T bought Keytech for $30 million in cash and stock and plans to invest another $50 million over the next few years, says Crecencio Arcos, a regional vice president at AT&T, who adds, ""The government is welcoming our investment."" Mr. Machinea's comments formed part of a wide-ranging interview in which he outlined the new government's mediumterm economic strategy for the first time. The economic team of President Fernando de la Rua, who took office Dec. 10, has received high marks for shoring up fiscal accounts with an austere budget and pushing a politically sensitive labor-reform initiative through the lower house last week despite a march of more than 15,000 workers in the streets. Nevertheless, Argentina needs to redefine its strategy to rekindle investors' interest. Mexico, Brazil and Chile have export-oriented growth models based on flexible currency policies. The Argentine peso, on the other hand, is pegged to the dollar and will remain that way ""for a long, long time,"" said Mr. Machinea. Lately, the peg has cost Argentina thousands of manufacturing jobs that are migrating to Brazil, where wages are lower, and analysts are wondering just what the government plans to do. ""We are probably facing the moment of truth in trying to decide which are the winners and losers in Argentina,"" said Pedro Lacoste, an economist here. Developing ""a strategy for the future is the No. 1 issue."" Remarkably, Mr. Machinea said Argentina will not try to prevent the exodus of low-wage manufacturing jobs. ""We are going to lose and continue to lose in those sectors intensive in unskilled labor,"" he said, noting that Argentina's strategic advantage in Latin America is its large middle class and educated work force. ""The priority of this country is a new technological revolution."" But if ""Argentina wants to advance in high-technology sectors, using qualified labor,"" telecommunications costs will have to dro"
"s in the value of the dollar and the level of international interest rates. The government has also taken steps to reduce its exposure to future credit shortages. As part of its IMF programme, it has pledged to eliminate its budget deficit by 2005, and embarked on reforming the social security and pension systems. ""We believe that with these measures, with this financing and with the private-sector involvement, we will be able to restore the Argentine economy to growth,"" says a senior IMF official. But a second scenario fills officials in Washington and Buenos Aires with dread. The government fails to get co-operation from the opposition-dominated Congress and cannot implement its measures. Investors remain wary and interest rates do not come down. Confidence fades and Argentina again faces the same problems meeting its foreign debt payments - this time with no foreign backing. The government of Fernando de la Rua depends on a fragile two-party coalition and the co-operation of an opposition-dominated Congress to implement its legislative programme. But so far, opposition politicians have shown little inclination to help the government. ""The political environment has shown that it's not conducive to successful implementation of reforms,"" says Bruno Boccara, director for Latin American sovereign ratings at Standard & Poor's. ""Those signals do not belong in Argentina at a time of such a serious crisis."" In short, the new package buys time for the government, but little breathing space. International investors will be paying close attention to local politicians in the next few weeks. Copyright Financial Times Limited 2000. All Rights Reserved.  "
"very. The economy grew by an estimated 0.9 per cent in the first quarter, but industrial production has shown signs of weakening in the second quarter, leading to fears that the economy risks slipping back into recession. Jose Luis Machinea, the economy minister, told a Buenos Aires conference this week that the economy would register growth of about 2.5 per cent for the second quarter, rising to around 4 per cent for the second half against the same period last year. Officials from President Fernando de la Rua downwards also claim a decision by Peugeot-Citroen, the French carmaker, to increase the working capital of its Argentine subsidiary by over $400m is a sign of strengthening confidence in the economy. The company aims to double car production in Argentina. Copyright Financial Times Limited 2000. All Rights Reserved.  "
"___  Document 472 of 700  Wal-Mart Fumes at Argentine Legislation --- Provincial Bills That Limit Size of Stores Threaten U.S. Retailer's Strategy  Author: By Ann Zimmerman and Matt Moffett  Publication info: Wall Street Journal , Eastern edition [New York, N.Y] 28 Nov 2000: A.23.  http://search.proquest.com/docview/398750606?accountid=28034  Abstract: The bill is being hammered out in the Buenos Aires provincial congress, and a final draft should reach Buenos Aires Gov. Carlos Ruckauf any day. If the bill is approved, Wal-Mart officials say the company, which employs 2,000 people in Buenos Aires, will be forced to halt its expansion there. The company said it fears other provinces will follow suit, shutting down its expansion countrywide. The debate is giving investors mixed signals. Argentina has sent delegations to meet with U.S. businesses and investment banks to encourage them to invest in the country. ""Here is a country that is going on road shows for international investment, and yet they're looking at this kind of action, which essentially limits investment and limits growth,"" says Horacio Achaval, chief operating officer of Wal-Mart Argentina. Wal-Mart officials have met with Buenos Aires legislators and have enlisted the help of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires. Arkansas Sens. Blanche Lincoln and Tim Hutchinson two weeks ago sent a joint letter to U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, requesting that she encourage the Argentine government to defeat the legislation.  Full text: The legislatures of Buenos Aires and other Argentine provinces are considering bills limiting the size of retail stores, a move that would thwart Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s plans to expand in the country. Prompted by owners of small and mid-size businesses, the Buenos Aires legislature is expected soon to vote on Bill 12088, which restricts the size of new hypermarkets to about 20,000 square feet, a tenth the size of a Wal-Mart Supercenter, which sell both food and general merchandise. The Bentonville, Ark., retailer now operates 11 supercenters in Argentina, includ"
"l text: Madrid $1bn for Argentina Rodrigo Rato, the Spanish economy minister, yesterday announced that Madrid would contribute $1bn towards the International Monetary Fund's rescue package for Argentina. Mr Rato said Spain was the only country that had agreed to join the bail-out. The loan is subject to the IMF's approval of Argentina's proposed economic reforms. It will be disbursed in 2001. ""We are the largest foreign investors in Argentina, so we have a vested interest in the success of Mr"
"ng work at plants and businesses around the country. The march isn't expected to last more than a day, but it could weaken the legislative momentum Mr. de la Rua's team has achieved on the bill with the opposition Justicialist, or ""Peronist,"" Party, which has alliances with the unions. Labor reform is a sensitive issue in Argentina, where unemployment is estimated at 14.4% and yet wage costs are stubbornly high. The International Monetary Fund and other creditors insist that Argentina needs more-flexible labor markets to complement its rigid exchange-rate system, which pegs the peso to the dollar, and to keep its goods competitive in export markets. Other countries, such as Brazil and Mexico, have cut wage costs through currency devaluations. But Argentine finance officials reject that option, fearing hyperinflation; so instead, they must lower costs through deregulation and more competition. The labor-reform bill proposes to give businesses more flexibility by lengthening trial periods during which companies can weed out unproductive new employees with little cost; preventing the enforcement of old contracts in favor of new accords; and decentralizing labor negotiations, a move that reduces the power of the national federations. ""In political terms,"" says Martin Lousteau, an economist at the Buenos Aires research fi"
"at, has become a stumbling block for Argentina as it fights off a fierce financial crisis. Even though Mr. Machinea seems on the verge of cobbling together a package of economic reforms, along with emergency loans from the International Monetary Fund, many foreign observers say they lack confidence in him. ""One of his biggest weaknesses is the communications front,"" says Walter Molano, head of research at BCP Securities Inc. The international spotlight fell on Argentina and Mr. Machinea in October, when a corruption scandal prompted the resignation of Argentina's vice president. With a recession already in full force, investors began to grow nervous over Argentina's $19.5 billion debt bill for 2001, and in a matter of weeks Argentina was priced out of the international bond markets. As the crisis unfolded, some Wall Street traders were perturbed that Mr. Machinea dispatched his deputy to New York to talk to them, instead of immediately coming himself. Back home, in an apparent effort to show that the government was leveling with investors, he repeatedly revised down Argentina's growth estimates. Last week, with the country on the verge of clinching the IMF-led package, which could total $20 billion to $30 billion, Mr. Machinea announced that gross domestic product would be flat for the fourth quarter. ""Events of the last 45 days have deteriorated an economy that was growing very little, and it is hard to believe there will be a positive growth rate in the fourth quarter,"" he said. Market watchers said the minister's repeated pessimistic comments may have been a bit too candid: ""It was a moment to try to instill confidence in Argentina,"" Mr. Molano says. ""It was perhaps a moment where honesty was not the best policy."" Mr. Machinea's partisans say he is much more at ease operating in the back rooms of Argentina's political system. Thanks to his arm-twisting, the 2001 budget was approved by the Senate last week and is expected to clear the lower house in the next few days, opening the way for the IMF aid package. Still, many emerging-market traders compare Mr. Machinea unfavorably to Brazilian Central Bank governor Arminio Fraga, a former fund manager for billionaire investor George Soros. The Argentina economy minister w"
"10 years. The impact of such an event - or even a further deterioration of the economy - would go far beyond Argentina. The country accounts for 20-25 per cent of emerging market bond indices, and a sell-off would further curtail financing to other countries. Brazil's currency sank yesterday to an 11-month low on worries over Argentina, while the Chilean and other currencies also suffered. The Brazilian and Argentine stock indices have lost nearly 15 per cent of their value this month. Copyright Financial Times Limited 2000. All Rights Reserved.  "
"preciation in the last month to 6 per cent. Prices of the Brazilian C-Bond, its most liquid international debt instrument, have also fallen 6 per cent in the last four weeks. The worries about Argentina have increased the perception of risk for the region as a whole. Brazil, which has a relatively high current account deficit and whose trade performance has consistently disappointed this year, is viewed as being one of the countries most vulnerable to external shocks. However, some Brazilian economists think the impact on the real economy will be limited. ""Unless things get out of control in Argentina, which we do not expect to happen, then the outlook for Brazil should not be significantly altered,"" said Constantin Jancso at MCM Consultores in Sao Paulo. Raul Alfonsin, the former Argentine president, whose comments on the foreign debt helped unnerve international investors, yesterday gave his full backing to the economy minister, Jose Luis Machinea. Argentina's troubles, Page 26 Capital markets, Page 42 Copyright Financial Times Limited 2000. All Rights Reserved.  "
"___  Document 34 of 634  Argentina's economic plan gathers support  Author: Catan, Thomas; Chaffin, Joshua  Publication info: Financial Times [London (UK)] 14 Nov 2000: 11.  http://search.proquest.com/docview/249064967?accountid=28034  Abstract: In an effort to calm nervous markets, Argentina dispatched Ricardo Lopez Murphy, the defence minister and a respected economist, to meet investors in New York. Daniel Marx, the minister in charge of public debt, and Mario Vicens, treasury secretary, were in Washington putting the final touches on the international rescue package. * Leslie Crawford adds from Madrid: Officials said Spain would contribute to the Argentine package once Mr de la Rua's government reached agreement with the IMF. They said Rodrigo Rato, the economy minister, was in daily contact with Washington and Buenos Aires. Copyright Financial Times Limited 2000. All Rights Reserved.  Full text: Argentina's government yesterday appeared to be edging closer to securing broad political support for its package of emergency economic measures after some concessions to opposition provincial governors. Their backing is seen as crucial if the new measures, which were well "
" that the banking system is solid has allowed Argentina to avoid a more severe downturn,"" says Vladimir Werning, chief economist for Argentina at J.P. Morgan & Co. Bankers themselves are feeling good about how the system is weathering the storm. ""I think it's one of the economy's strengths right now,"" says Eduardo Escasany, president of Banco Galicia SA, one of the few big Argentine banks that is still in local hands. ""The system is very solid."" That wasn't the case five years ago, when Mexico's abrupt currency devaluation sparked a regional scare that quickly hit Argentina. In the three months following the Mexican peso's fall, depositors yanked nearly 20% of their money out of Argentine banks, prompting dozens of banks to close. Interest rates surged as the government tried in vain to stop the capital flight. Now, despite the Argentine government's severe debt predicament, the banking system has barely been pinched. Over the past two months, deposits fell by a net of about $700 million, a small fraction of the total. Interest rates jumped to about 20% at the peak of the crisis last month, but have since dropped back to around 12%. The presence of foreign names like Spain's Banco Santander Central Hispano SA and HSBC PLC on the shingles of bank branches appears to give some comfort to Argentines, who once sent their money abroad or shoved it into safety-deposit boxes at the first sign of trouble. Many have switched their savings into dollar-denominated accounts while keeping their money in the same bank. Argentina's convertibility law, which fixes the Argentine peso to the U.S. dollar, permits accounts to be held in either currency. Argentina is drawing closer to unlocking the IMF-led package, which could total $20 billion to $30 billion. Late yesterday the Senate passed the country's 2001 budget, which will be sent to the lower house for final approval. Passage of the budget is a condition for the aid, which would help the government meet some $21 billion in debt that comes due next year. Local banks are expected to assist by buying bonds and rolling over debt. That doesn't mean banks aren't feeling the heat of the crisis, which comes amid a two-year recession. Analysts say loan growth has stalled. Pessimism about "
"y"", and stressed the importance of swift passage. ""Rapid implementation of these steps, in particular agreement on a fiscal pact between the federal government and the provinces, would help assure the sustainability of Argentina's fiscal position,"" he said. The Argentine government said it also received statements of support from several foreign leaders, including US President Bill Clinton. Argentina currently has a $7.2bn standby loan facility with the IMF, of which it has immediate access to $2bn. Mr Kohler said that after negotiations, which could be completed quickly, the fund would be willing to let Argentina draw on its credit line, which the government had been treating as precautionary. Thereafter, additional finance would probably be made available under a so-called supplemental reserve facility. The World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank would also be contributing funds of their own. Argentine officials said they had also worked to gain a commitment from a group of local banks acting as ""market makers"" for the government's debt issues to support their financing programme next year. Argentine pension funds might also play a role in the rescue. A senior fund official said the package would assume a private sector contribution to Argentina's financing needs in the coming year. Argentina was ""working to strengthen their access to the market, but in a voluntary way"", the official said. A final contribution to the rescue package could also be made by Spain, whose banks have built up billions of dollars in exposure to the South American economy. The US Treasury will not be contributing directly, although it is playing a central role in co-ordinating the rescue. Announcement of the details of the new package could take several more days or even weeks, people familiar with the negotiations said, despite being close to agreement. Argentine officials said they expected to draw on some but not all of the"
"___  Document 521 of 700  Investors Grow Wary of Argentina, And Its Woes Spill Over to Brazil  Author: By Pamela Druckerman and Jonathan Karp  Publication info: Wall Street Journal , Eastern edition [New York, N.Y] 26 Oct 2000: A.22.  http://search.proquest.com/docview/398765140?accountid=28034  Abstract: Brazil appears to be suffering from a perception that its economy is more interlinked with Argentina than it actually is. Argentina sends nearly one-quarter of its exports to Brazil, while Brazil sells just 10% of its exports to Argentina. Still, Argentina's instability complicates efforts to boost regional trade; Brazil and Argentina have been locked in a duel over import tariffs for autos. And it highlights the Achilles' heel in Brazil's recovery from a massive 1999 devaluation: vulnerability to external shocks.  Full text: Argentina's political problems and its persistent economic slump are making global markets increasingly skittish about the country's mountainous debt load. Most investors think Argentina, which is being buffeted by a corruption scandal that prompted the vice president to resign recently, will manage to scrape by and pay its bills, at least in the coming months. But the country's bonds have gotten clobbered recently and its troubles are starting to spill into neighboring Brazil, where the real hit an 11-month low yesterday. "
"ar whether the bailout will help revive Argentina's stagnant economy. The size of the package, frantically assembled to help the government meet a flood of coming debt payments, substantially exceeded market expectations. Analysts said the amount of money committed to Argentina reflected the IMF's concern that a debt default by the nation could trigger a crisis in other emerging markets. President Fernando de la Rua, his popularity flagging with the nation's fortunes, tried to whip up enthusiasm for the package. ""This eliminates any doubts about the Argentine economy,"" he said at a ceremony to announce the deal. ""Argentina is not condemned to economic stagnation."" The government said the amalgam of loans and debt swaps will cover most government debt payments through 2003. Though pleased by the jumbo package, foreign investors were quick to note that Argentina's problems extend beyond its total debt of some $120 billion. They say the country's foremost need is to get the economy growing again after two years of recession. Reflecting this ambivalence, Argentina's battered stock and bond markets barely budged in the wake of the announcement. Argentina has faced a raft of economic problems, including concern about a slowing U.S. economy, which analysts say makes U.S. investors warier of sending their money abroad. And the country remains hard hit by last year's currency devaluation in Brazil; the devaluation prompted many Argentine manufacturers to shift production to its neighbor. Further, through Argentina's convertibility system, the country's currency is fixed to the U.S. dollar, and most of Argentina's exports have become less competitive because of the dollar's strength. Government officials envision a scenario in which the aid package allows Argentina to lower do"
"icularly of the social security and pension systems. Second, President Fernando de la Rua will have to maintain greater discipline - the coalition cannot afford a repeat of the internal bickering that nearly led to its break-up. Third, the government must do a better job of explaining its actions both at home and abroad. The opposition, too, must act with a heavy sense of responsibility. Though they signed up to the government's measures eventually, Peronist governors like Carlos Ruckauf of Buenos Aires have relished playing politics at a dangerous time. Such brinkmanship could backfire badly if it is repeated in the negotiations over the government's crucial 2001 budget. Copyright Financial Times Limited 2000. All Rights Reserved.  "
"alid passport is all that is needed to visit Argentina. A visa is not required for tourist and business visits up to 90 days. Getting there International flights arrive at Ezeiza, about 40 minutes ($40 taxi ride) from downtown Buenos Aires. Domestic arrivals land at Aeroparque Jorge Newbery, 10 minutes from downtown (by taxi, about $10). Business Most business starts at 8am and finishes at 8pm or 9pm with a long lunch taken until 3pm or 4pm. Government offices and banks, however, work on an 8am-5pm basis. For advice on how business is conducted and relevant etiquette go to http://www.businessculture.com/ argentina/index.html. Web sites http://www.surdelsur.com/economia/ indexingles.html - focuses on the main industries and their history in Argentina. http://data.georgetown.edu/pdba/ Countries/countries.cfm?ID=38 -focuses on the political institutions in Argentina. http://www.economatica.com - comp"
"___  Document 630 of 700  Letters to the Editor: Argentine Tariff Cut Could Spell Disaster  Publication info: Wall Street Journal , Eastern edition [New York, N.Y] 17 July 2000: A.35.  http://search.proquest.com/docview/398760860?accountid=28034  Abstract: Of equal importance, an ""aggressive opening"" could provoke irredeemable political and social costs in Argentina. In his determined pursuit of the fiscal discipline championed by the international financial community, Mr. de la Rua has already spent most of his first six months of residence in the Casa Rosada pushing through a number of unpopular austerity measures to reduce his country's bulging deficit. Already suffering from around 15% unemployment and the worst recession in years (both inherited from the Menem presidency), Argentines have been hit hard by Mr. de la Rua's reforms.  Full text: In her June 23 Americas column ""RX for Argentina: Export th"
"received in principle, are to restore investor confidence. An international aid package that could total more than $15bn (£10.5bn) also hangs on swift implementation. After a series of meetings over the weekend, the Peronist governors released a statement that was broadly supportive in tone: ""We have made clear our willingness to subscribe to an economic, budgetary social and political project that guarantees the governability of the country and of all the provinces to the benefit of the Argentine people."" The measures, which were announced Friday night by President Fernando de la Rua, include sweeping changes to the tax system, state pensions and a five-year freeze on federal and provincial spending. It appeared that the government might have to accept a shorter spending freeze and that it may have to pass the pension reforms by presidential decree. Such a move could come swiftly, as a signal to the markets. Investors reacted cautiously yesterday, awaiting more details on the progress of the new measures. Argentina's FRB bond, the most widely traded of its Brady issues, gained {1/4} to 86{3/8}. This followed a more pronounced rally on Friday, when word of the support p"
"eement with provincial governors to freeze their primary spending for five years paves the way for an international rescue package of $20bn or more. The question now is whether this will be enough to put the country back on the path to growth. With more than a year's financing assured, Argentina's debt suddenly looks very cheap. Logically, its sovereign risk premium should now fall sharply, lowering interest rates, boosting confidence and helping to kick-start a somnolent economy. That outcome, however, will require Argentina's politicians, of all colours, to behave responsibly - or the country will find itself in the same frightening position a year hence. Most important, the government must press on with its reform programme, part"
"igned an agreement putting a freeze their primary spending until 2005 - a key component of the package of measures announced by President Fernando de la Rua on November 10. In return, the government agreed to a clause granting the provinces a ""temporary modification"" to spending limits in ""extreme cases"" in which essential services are threatened. Buenos Aires will also provide an additional $225m for social programmes in the provinces. ""As president, I am going to take all of the actions necessary under the constitution to preserve the Argentine economy and avoid any crisis situation,"" said Mr De la Rua. Investors cheered news of the accord, expressing relief that a delicate political situation had not derailed the international rescue package. Argentina's FRB bond, the most widely-traded of its Brady issues, rose 1{1/4} to 88{1/4}. Larry Summers, US Treasury secretary, reiterated his support for the Argentine government. ""Argentina accomplished a great deal over the last decade and that puts it in a good position to meet the challenges that lie ahead,"" he said. An IMF delegation will now travel to Buenos Aires to put the finishing touches on Argenti"
"___  Document 85 of 634  Fears of Argentine contagion  Author: Catan, Thomas; Chaffin, Joshua; Colitt, Raymond  Publication info: Financial Times [London (UK)] 27 Oct 2000: 13.  http://search.proquest.com/docview/248972524?accountid=28034  Abstract: Argentina's political and economic turmoil has begun to reach beyond the country's borders, as regional governments grow concerned that the Argentine crisis could derail their own fragile recoveries.  Full text: Argentina's political and economic turmoil has begun to reach beyond the country's borders"
"itself through the end of next year. They are openly speculating about the possibility of a default by Argentina on its foreign obligations next year, or even a devaluation of the currency, which has been tied to the dollar for nearly 10 years. The impact of such an event - or even a further deterioration of the economy - would go far beyond Argentina. The country accounts for 20-25 per cent of emerging market bond indices, and a sell-off would further curtail financing to other countries. ""It's very difficult to think of a scenario in which Argentina experiences serious problems and Brazil and Mexico come out unscathed,"" said David Sekiguchi, Latin American Debt analyst at J.P. Morgan. Brazil's currency sank yesterday to an 11-month low on worries over Argentina, while the Chilean and other regional currencies also suffered. Regional stock markets, already hurt by volatility in US markets, were further affected by concerns over Argentina. The spread on Argentina's debt has widened by around 220 basis points in the past three weeks, a potent indicator of investor concern. The Brazilian and Argentine stock indices have lost nearly 15 of their value this month. Beyond the strictly financial worries, international investors are also watching Argentina for other reasons. In the past decade, the country has become an important proxy for the region's adherence to US-style economic reforms. Its experience with reform has been highlighted because the country lacks some of the natural adv"
"on and falling trade barriers would certainly raise unemployment. Nevertheless, a growing chorus of economists say the Argentine economy is in dire need of a Reagan-style supply-side shock, not only through a gradual reduction of taxes but also through a sharp reduction in the price of services and products brought about by competition. Concerns about saving jobs, even at inefficient companies such as Aerolineas Argentinas -- which is expected to have losses of more than $250 million this year -- have injured confidence that markets will be allowed to work out problems unhindered by government intervention. ""They are making a state issue out of . . . a pure private-market issue,"" said Andy Ricover, an expert in Argentine aviation. ""There is no reason to protect this airline."" Aerolineas Argentinas's largest shareholder happens to be a Spanish government industrial holding company known as Sepi; it obtained the shares during its 1996 bailout of Iberia SA, which maintained a minority stake. Other shareholders include AMR Corp., parent of American Airlines; Deutsche Bank AG's Bankers Trust unit; Merrill Lynch & Co.; local unions; and the Argentine government. The Spaniards recently presented the Argentine government with a restructuring proposal that calls for shrinking the airline's operations and drastically reducing costs in an attempt to realign capacity with demand, a capital infusion, and probably a request for further delays on open skies deregulation, according to local news reports that were confirmed independently. ""We're not the Sisters of Charity,"" a Sepi spokesman said. ""By applying orthodox financial solutions, we think we can save the airline and make it not only profitable, but a major regional player."" After nearly a decade of mismanagement, local union leaders are so skeptical of the Spaniards that they hired their own consultant to draft an alternative. Robert Booth, head of Aviation Management Services, a Miami consulting firm, said the restructuring proposal would require strenuous execution. ""I have never seen an airline shrink itself into profitability,"" he said. ""When you start cutting routes, you chop off revenue and costs linger on.""  "
"rehensive data and software for the analysis of the 1,000 biggest Latin American companies. http://www.interknowledge.com/ argentina - guide to Argentina, especially Buenos Aires, including links to accommodation and restaurants. http://www.bcra.gov.ar - website of the Central Bank of Argentina. http://www.fco.gov.uk/travel/ countryadvice.asp - British Foreign Office travel advice on Argentina. http://www.gksoft.com/govt/en/ ar.html - lists the official government websites. http://www.latin-focus.com/ countries/argentina/argentina.html - excellent website with details of economic indicators in Argentina, including links to stock exchange, government ministries and the media. http://www.pbs.org/edens/ patagonia/ - guide to the region of Patagonia made famous by, among others, Charles Darwin and Bruce Chatwin. Compiled by Ashleigh Lezard Copyright Financial Times Limited 2000. All Rights Reserved.  "
"fter decades of economic decline, its elites fancied themselves ""South American Europeans."" Brazil, which is three times as large as Argentina, has a more ethnically diverse population that includes large numbers of blacks, Indians and Asians. It also sees itself as occupying a unique niche in the world: ""God is Brazilian,"" as one saying puts it. Now, on top of the sizable cost advantage Brazil offers Argentine businessmen, its federal and local governments are aggressively marketing industrial incentives, including free land, as well as breaks on taxes and utilities. Multilabel Argentina SA, a maker of adhesive labels, recently decided to locate a new plant in Sao Paulo, Brazil's biggest city, after local authorities there offered a slew of incentives, including cash bonuses if the plant attains certain production, hiring and export goals. Scoffing at Brazil's Argentine critics, Multilabel Vice President Juan Carlos Sacco says, ""People think businessmen in Argentina shouldn't make money."" The job exodus has strained relations within the Mercosur customs union, which also includes Paraguay and Uruguay. Born in 1991, Mercosur has become South America's most successful effort at political and economic integration, but it has yet to develop an efficient means of settling disputes between members. Last week, Brazil and Argentina issued the Buenos Aires Declaration, a plan to establish common economic-policy targets and to beef up Mercosur's procedures for resolving trade complaints. Brazilian diplomat Jose Botafogo Goncalves calls the declaration an effort ""to clean up the house."" Still, the trade bloc faces an uphill struggle. ""It took one major currency crisis to raise serious frictions,"" says Lawrence Pih, president of Moinhos Pacifico Ltd., a Sao Paulo flour miller. For example, nearly two-thirds of the respondents in a recent poll by the Argentine newspaper Clarin identified the flight of jobs to Brazil as Argentina's No. 1 problem, as it struggles to overcome its worst recession in years. In a metal shop in Hurlingham, a factory town near Buenos Aires, Gabriel DiMarco shakes his grease-stained hands in frustration as he talks about Brazil. It is ""an octopus that is sucking the life out of us,"" he says. The shutdown of a 70-year-old Goodyear plant, which transferred some production to Brazil, has idled shops like Mr. DiMarco's, which formerly supplied it, leaving the town's economy in shambles. Brazilians maintain that Argentina, which has run a huge trade surplus with Brazil for the past five years, has nothing to complain about and is just making them scapegoats. The Brazilian magazine Veja recently ran a cover story exploring why ""blaming Brazil is currently the national sport of Argentina."" The national magazine attributed part of the problem to the fragile Argentine psyche: Buenos Aires, it reported, has three times as many psychiatrists per capita as Sao Paulo. Nonetheless, many Argentine business executives face an increasingly pointed dilemma: Do they abandon Argentina and set up shop in their country's longtime rival or stay at home and possibly go down with the ship? ""Very basic issues of business survival are at stake,"" says Liliana Pertierra, who with her husband, Hector, runs the small Buenos Aires consulting firm recently thrust into the center of the controversy. The Pertierras serve as go-betweens for Argentine industrialists seeking to set up factories in Brazil's northeastern state of Paraiba, a desperately poor area trying to exploit its rock-bottom manufacturing costs. The Pertierras have escorted executives from more than 40 Argentine companies to Paraiba in the past four months. Five have already committed to starting operations there. Besides lower wages, Paraiba offers tax breaks and prefabricated assembly plants, not to mention the leisure-time appeal of Brazil's beach-strewn northeast coast. ""We took these Argentine businessmen on one boat ride along the coastline, and they were sold,"" says Fernando Sinval Ferreira, an executive on the Paraiba industrial-promotion board, which has worked with the Pertierras. The Pertierras say the Argentine companies they have helped place in Brazil haven't shut down operations at homebut have merely elected to supply the Brazilian market from Brazil, rather than Argentina. But that seems like a hair-splitting distinction to the Argentine media. The news coverage ""has been rather acid,"" "
"which essentially limits investment and limits growth,"" says Horacio Achaval, chief operating officer of Wal-Mart Argentina. Arguing that small and mid-sized retailers can't compete against giant stores on price, three Buenos Aires congressmen introduced similar bills last spring that would limit a hypermarket's size. The government imposed a 180-day moratorium on hypermarket construction while it considered the bill. The moratorium ends Dec. 5, and Wal-Mart officials say the bill could be voted into law before then. The congressmen couldn't be reached for comment. Dario Lizzano, chief of research in Buenos Aires for Santander Centro Hispano Investment, said, ""Mom-and-pop stores have been severely affected by the installation of hypermarkets. The political argument has been advanced that by preventing these companies from opening it would help restore the mom and pop stores and improve employment, something that may be true and may not be true."" ""Argentina wants economic growth back in place,"" says Tom Donohue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. ""They want the support of the foreign business community. This is not a good time to say to one of the most respected companies in the world, we made a deal and now we're changing the rules. Companies will wonder who else are they going to do that to."" Wal-Mart's biggest competitor in the country is Carrefour SA, a French supermarket chain that last year merged with Promodes to form the largest supermarket chain in Argentina. Carrefour has 259 stores of varying formats in the country, with 22 hypermarkets in Buenos Aires province. Wal-Mart officials have met with Buenos Aires legislators and have enlisted the help of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires. Arkansas Sens. Blanche Lincoln and Tim Hutchinson two weeks ago sent a joint letter to U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, requesting that she encourage the Argentine government to defeat the legislation. ""This bill is anticompetitive and contrary to the spirit of free trade,"" the senators wrote. Credit: Staff Reporters of The Wall Street Journal  "
"___  Document 116 of 634  Investors unmoved by Argentine success EMERGING MARKETS PROSPECTS HURT BY UNCERTAIN POLITICAL CLIMATE AND LACK OF GROWTH:  Author: Catan, Thomas  Publication info: Financial Times [London (UK)] 09 Oct 2000: 36.  http://search.proquest.com/docview/248916452?accountid=28034  Abstract: ""That's one of the problems of the Argentine market,"" said Ian Laming at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. ""There's not much growth in Argentina and yet the valuations aren't much lower than in Brazil or Mexico."" That is reflected in Argentine risk: some Argentine bonds are trading at wider spreads than Brazil's, but that does not mean the country is facing an economic crisis, as has periodically been suggested. If that happened, reform efforts would stall, endangering Argentina's fragile recovery. The plus side of all of this is that Mr De la Rua now has a far more unified cabinet on economic matters and a strengthened economy minister, Jose Luis Machinea.  Full text: The good news for Argentina is that during the past decade, it has developed into a stable economy, with a strong currency, solid financial system and no inflation. Also, the difficult external situation it faced over recent years - a strong dollar, high US interest rates and low commodity prices - is starting to improve. The bad news for Argentina is that global investors don't much seem to care. The reasons are clear. While Latin America as a whole has rebounded from a bruising recession in 1999, Argentina has been struggling to restart its economy. After a 3 per cent contraction last year, Argentina's economy is expected to grow by less than 2 per cent this year. The government hopes "
" Corp's American Airlines unit and UAL Corp.'s United Airlines are the only U.S. airlines that service the market now -- while Argentine consumers would enjoy lower international fares brought about by added seat capacity. But the agreement also would have pushed the money-losing Argentine carrier Aerolineas Argentinas closer to the brink. Initially, Mr. de la Rua's team said they needed time to review the accord. But his government has made clear that the treaty will be renegotiated, thus becoming a prime example of the government's willingness to head off market forces and protect industries and jobs. Aerolineas Argentinas has more than 5,000 employees, and ""if you add in family members, we are talking about 25,000 people that would be without an income"" if the airline failed, a government spokesman said last week. Such interventionist policies worry analysts because they could make Argentina's economic transition even more painful. ""Keeping afloat inefficient companies to protect jobs is the worst thing you can do for employment,"" said Pablo Guidotti, the former vice minister of finance who now heads the school of government at Torcuato di Tella University in Buenos Aires. The Argentine economy is losing thousands of low-skill, low-wage manufacturing jobs. The transition to skilled services is happening, but not fast enough to dent unemployment, which stands at 14%. Another complication is that the government's budgetary constraints leave little room to expand social safety nets. The technocrats in Mr. de la Rua's cabinet believe in competition, and appear to be lowering barriers of entry for new telecommunications companies, according to preliminary outlines of a deregulation plan released over the weekend. On Friday, hundreds of thousands of workers walked off their jobs in a one-day general strike against government austerity policies. The Cabinet debate has resulted in a consensual economic policy that is open to special interests and that sometimes lacks conviction. ""We are seeing a general approach to economic policy that focuses more on protecting producers while focusing less on the interests of consumers,"" Mr. Guidotti said. Aggressive deregulati"
" year. Argentina accounts for up to a quarter of tradeable emerging market debt, and international finance officials are concerned that a default by the nation on its $123.5bn in foreign debt could set off a new round of financial contagion. The current crisis began when investors, worried about the country's ability to continue meeting its payments, steered clear of Argentine debt. That forced it to turn to the International Monetary Fund for help in meeting $15bn in foreign debt payments next year and in financing a $6.5bn budget deficit. Although this week's IMF-led package buys Argentina time, it is unlikely to restart economic growth by itself. The economy has been hit by external factors in the past two years. Russia's debt default caused Argentina's cost of financing to soar and set off events that forced its principal trading partner, Brazil, to devalue. Not only was Argentina unable to respond to the sudden loss of competitiveness, its currency moved steadily in the other direction. Under its currency board system, which pegs the peso to the dollar, the currency has marched steadily higher while the euro fell - squeezing the economy further. Add to that the falling price of Argentina's commodities and many economists wonder that the economy has not already collapsed. In their more optimistic moments, IMF and Argentine officials paint the following scenario: with the spectre of default lifted, Argentine debt begins to look cheap by international standards. Investors should again start buying the country's bonds, bringing down interest rates and helping kickstart the economy. International factors aiding that scenario are expected drop"
"national finance officials that a default by the country could set off a new round of financial contagion. The package, which is substantially larger than expected, includes $13.7bn from the International Monetary Fund, $2.5bn each from the World Bank and Interamerican Development Bank and $1bn from Spain. From the private sector, Argentina has secured an agreement by banks acting as ""market makers"" for government debt issues worth some $10bn, as well as a similar commitment by Argentine pension funds for around $3bn. It will also carry out a series of voluntary bond exchanges worth some $7bn, which will include debt coming due within the next five years. Horst Kohler, IMF managing director, said the package ""should improve the investment climate and, together with enhanced domestic and external confidence, lay the ground for sustained economic growth in Argentina"". The package also received a statement of support from Larry Summers, US Treasury Secretary, who expressed his hopes that government reforms would lift the struggling Argentine economy from its slumber. Like other emerging markets, Argentina's economy fell into a deep recession in 1999, contracting by more than 3 per cent. But unlike other regional economies, Argentina has so far been unable to pull itself out. The economy is expected to grow by les"
" De la Rua's stabilisation measures,"" said government officials in Madrid. Repsol, the Spanish oil and gas group, is the biggest foreign investor and tax payer in Argentina. It paid $13.5bn last year for YPF, the Argentine oil company. BSCH and BBVA, Spain's two largest banks, Endesa, the electricity group, and Telefonica of Spain also run big operations in the southern cone. Leslie Crawford, Madrid, and Thomas Catan, Buenos Aires Copyright Financial Times Limited 2000. All Rights Reserved.  "
"___  Document 664 of 700  Argentina set to clear hurdle to IMF aid package  Author: Catan, Thomas  Publication info: Financial Times [London (UK)] 08 Dec 2000: 05.  http://search.proquest.com/docview/248910549?accountid=28034  Abstract: Already, Argentina's neighbours such as Brazil and Chile have suffered from worries over the country; Brazil trimmed its growth forecast partly as a result of Argentina's troubles. ""When the dust settles, the question will return: 'how much can this economy grow?',"" said Andres Lederman, Argentina economist at Salomon Smith Barney in New York. Following Russia's disastrous debt default more than two years ago, Argentina's economy slipped into recession, contracting by more than 3 per cent in 1999. ""Although the upcoming IMF package is great news for Argentina, the problems in the medium term still remain to be solved,"" JP Morgan wrote to clients this week. Copyright Financial Times Limited 2000. All Rights Reserved.  Full text: Argentina's government was yesterday poised to clear the final legislative hurdle that should pave the way for a $20bn-$30bn international rescue package that investors hope will pull the country out of a two-year trough. In the pre-dawn hours yesterday, the opposition-dominated Senate gave the government's 2001 budget outline approval, following "
"es to succeed. The governors have demanded greater social spending in their provinces in return for their support. Yesterday, the government spent a third day locked in negotiations with the governors to try to forge an agreement. Standard & Poors move comes only seven weeks after it surprised pessimistic markets by reaffirming its rating on Argentina. Since then, however, the coalition government has come under strain that nearly led to its break-up, and the country has suffered a crisis of confidence in the markets that has obliged it to turn to the International Monetary Fund for help. Copyright Financial Times Limited 2000. All Rights Reserved.  "
"p, he said. In November, Argentina began to deregulate the duopoly that has had a grip on telecommunications costs here for nearly a decade by allowing two wireless consortia to compete. But even Argentina's telecommunications minister, Henoch Aguiar, says that this opening was ""more like a warm-up exercise than a real race"" and that aggressive competition will begin this November, when the government opens the door to allows several more entrants. Mr. Aguiar said clear rules, vastly expanding network capacity, and competition will be the main factors pushing rates lower. But the government will also adjust the rates the incumbents charge new players to use their networks to foment competition, he said. ""We will have competition without restrictions,"" he said, predicting that call rates to the U.S., which are around a dollar a minute, will fall to 20 cents or lower. The objective isn't only savings for consumers and businesses, he said, but also the expansion of Argentina's nascent Internet industry. ""We are convinced that Argentina"" can be the region's leader ""in content, software and applications for the Internet,"" Mr. Aguiar said. Despite oppressively high Internet-access and telephone charges over the past two years, Argentine Internet entrepreneurs have successfully launched companies that have expanded around the region, such as the portal El Sitio, which recently listed its shares on Nasdaq, and Patagon.com, a popular online financial services firm. But these companies still represent a fragment of the overall economy, and Mr. Machinea must make sure that other sectors of the economy remain productive and grow while the telecommunications industry takes off. The finance minister said he will also look for ways to spark more competition in the gas, electricity and fuel sectors, giving smaller distributors better access to the wholesale markets. Capital markets also need to be overhauled, he said, by lowering barriers of entry for new financial services concerns. To help absorb the job loss Argentina will suffer from plant migrations, the minister said, the government will focus on infrastructure projects and retraining programs. But he said Argentina will never compete on the basis of cheap labor or a cheap currency. ""The only way this country can be more competitive is to lower costs,"" Mr. Machinea said. ""This is our fight of every day."" Credit: Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal  "
___  Document 312 of 634  Argentina upbeat on economy  Publication info: Financial Times [London (UK)] 05 July 2000: 01.  http://search.proquest.com/docview/248877573?accountid=28034  Abstract: A
" quickly obtain lower interest rates,"" Treasury Secretary Mario Vicens said. The new deal will allow Argentina to draw on an existing $7.2 billion standby facility and add another loan that could amount to billions of dollars, all designed to help Argentina overcome potential liquidity problems next year as it faces financing needs of $19.5 billion. Mr. Vicens also said the IMF has given a thumbs up to Argentina's plan to all but eliminate previously planned spending cuts from the 2001 budget bill, the passage of which has been mandated by the lending organization. The Economy Ministry said late Friday the 2001 budget would contain less than $100 million in spending cuts instead of the $600 million previously announced.  "
"antages of other Latin countries - such as Venezuela's oil or Mexico's proximity to the US - that might allow greater policy flexibility. ""If Argentina stumbles, anyone who needs to go out and do a significant amount of financing is going to have trouble,"" said Peter Geraghty, managing director of Darby Overseas Investors, an investment company founded by Nicholas Brady, former US Treasury secretary. That concern was highlighted by Larry Summers, US Treasury secretary, this week after a meeting of the Group of 20 top industrialised and emerging market nations in Montreal. ""We're watching the situation in emerging markets generally, including Argentina, closely,"" he said. However, Mr Summers dismissed market speculation that the Treasury was arranging for a financial aid package for the country. The country most concerned about a possible Argentine crisis is its largest neighbour, Brazil. Both countries belong to the South American trading bloc, Mercosur. However, Brazil is far less dependent on the Argentine market for its exports than the other way around. Last year, Argentina accounted for around 12 per cent of Brazilian exports. ""The effects on exports would be negative, but not disastrous,"" said Francis Freisinger, Latin America economist at Merrill Lynch. ""The real risk is that contagion from Argentina could impact Brazilian financing."" Argentina has been struggling to emerge from two years of economic stagnation. Copyright Financial Times Limited 2000. All Rights Reserved.  "
"ing of the two countries' foreign and finance ministers in Buenos Aires last month ended in an agreement to ""relaunch"" Mercosur. The two countries hope to revive the agenda for deepening the trade block. And they want to remove the cause of some of the recent friction by bringing their economies into closer harmony. To that end, they have set a timetable for a ""mini-Maastricht""-a set of economic-convergence targets similar to those in the Maastricht treaty that led to the euro. Not before time: Mercosur stalled when the region slipped into recession in 1998, and intra-block trade slumped (see chart, above right). It threatened to come to a halt after the January 1999 devaluation of the Brazilian real made Argentina's goods up to 40% dearer in their largest market. Brazil has since recovered from recession, helping Argentina: in the first three months of this year, it clocked up a trade surplus with its northern neighbour of $3oom, according to Daniel Marx, the deputy economy minister. Even so, Argentina has been struggling to pull out of recession-in part because the new government of Fernando de la Rua raised taxes in December in an effort to help cut the fiscal deficit. Argentina's rigid currency board, in which the peso is pegged at par to the dollar, makes growth dependent on capital inflows. But investors have been troubled by squabbles within Mr de la Rua's team. And rising interest rates in the United States have caused fresh worries about the availability offinance for Argentina and Brazil. That has caused the real to slip by 7% against the dollar since March 23rd, and shares and bonds in both countries to sag. Such turbulence may increase the determination of both governments to implement their ""mini-Maastricht"". Work has begun on harmonising statistics. Officials hope to announce the targets next March. Uruguay and Paraguay, Mercosur's other full members, will be invited to take part, as eventually will associates Chile and Bolivia. The first targets will cover public debt, government borrowing and inflation. Others, such as the balance of payments, may come later. In the long term, the aim is supposed to be a common currency. But there is a shorter-term benefit too: Argentina has dropped earlier talk of ""compensation"" for industries ""damaged"" by devaluation, since its officials hope that convergence will bind Brazil to continued fiscal discipline, reducing the likelihood of bigger slumps in the real. Brazil and "
"hanging dramatically,"" said Jan Boyer, chief executive officer of Softbank Latin American Ventures. ""As of today, it shouldn't make a difference whether you're in Buenos Aires or Miami."" But looking for explanations often implies falling back on softer cultural explanations, and it seems that for many Argentines, the internet was precisely the right thing at the right time. The burst of new companies in the past couple of years showed that the entrepreneurial spirit in Argentina was alive and well, but had mainly been held back by the country's chronic lack of financing. Even with a banking system awash with liquidity, there is precious little lending to small companies and virtually no local equity markets to speak of. A sudden influx of venture capital, then, enabled a generation of young entrepreneurs to finally take a crack at their idea. ""The internet has become the spark that enables potential entrepreneurs to take the proverbial plunge,"" says Softbank's Mr Boyer. ""Before, there just wouldn't have been the receptivity to it."" Daniel Korn, a US lawyer at Allende & Brea, puts it another way: ""By looking at our clients, there is, I think, a sense that this might be a way out for a person who's always wanted to be their own boss. Every taxi driver has a vision for a company or an idea, but somehow the economy never made it possible."" Aspiring entrepreneurs have also had some important role models to look to, such as Wenceslao Casares of financial site Patagon.com and Roberto Cibrian of El Sitio. Following April's Nasdaq correction, many financiers who jumped upon the internet bandwagon in Argentina are now going back to their roots. That has left many internet companies, such as Latinstocks.com, adrift and struggling for survival. The ambitious financial site recently laid off much of its staff after the Argentine investment fund Exxel Group decided to get out of internet investing. But a handful of early-stage venture capital investors remain, including Softbank, Chase Capital Partners, Lieberman Group and Pegasus Venture Capital. And even in these much leaner times, investors say there are still plenty of potentially profitable ideas. Says Michael Chu, a founding partner of Pegasus Venture Capital: ""We have more interesting projects that we would really like to sort through than hours in the day."" Copyright Financial Times Limited 2000. All Rights Reserved.  "
"mestic interest rates, now about 15%, triggering a surge of new investment to fire up the economy. That prediction is backed up by some local economists, who predict rates could fall to 10% within a month. ""To the extent that this [package] makes us less vulnerable, investors will feel more inclined to make their own investments,"" said Argentine Finance Secretary Daniel Marx. The IMF said it will boost Argentina's existing standby loan to $11 billion from $7.2 billion and provide the government with an additional $2.7 billion under the so-called Supplemental Reserve Facility. The IMF portion of the package requires approval by the fund's board, expected next month. The package also includes $2.5 billion each from the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank, $1 billion from the government of Spain and $3 billion from Argentine institutional investors. Private investors are making a significant contribution to the package, with $7 billion in debt swaps and $10 billion in new loans from ""local market makers."" Gustavo Canonero, head of Argentine research at Deutsche Bank, says the government still needs to cut public spending related to its union-dominated health care program and its social security program. These continuing reforms, as well as the government's ability to stick to existing spending cuts and other measures, will be key to maintaining confidence over the long term, he said. In Washington, Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers underscored the importance of these domestic policies to Argentina's recovery. ""We encourage the government of Argentina to fully implement its enhanced commitments under the new program, which will help position Argentina for a restoration of confidence and renewed growth."" Credit: Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal  "
"as the country launched $1.25bn in 30-year global bonds. ""There has been a significant change in the atmosphere in Argentina in recent weeks,"" said Stanley Fischer, IMF first deputy managing director. The change was ""largely based on tax receipts coming in much better than expected,"" he said. The successful bond issue, which increased from an expected $1bn, was seen as an important test of heavily indebted Argentina's ability to access long-term dollar funding. Argentina had ""over-performed"" on its first-half economic targets, and had a very good chance of meeting the second-half targets as well, Mr Fischer said. Argentina on Monday announced a Treasury surplus of $831.9m (£5510m) for June, against a deficit of $119.9m in the same period last year, helpe"
"January 1999 devaluation, said economy minister Jose Luis Machinea. Latin America and Caribbean, Page 3 Copyright Financial Times Limited 2000. All Rights Reserved.  "
"- slightly better than the 712 basis point spread reached at the end of August. Part of the reason for the bearishness about Argentine debt is structural. Argentina's currency board system, which backs every peso in circulation with a dollar, makes the country highly dependent on external financing. That is one reason why Moody's Investors Service, the international ratings agency, has given the country's external debt a relatively low grade of B1. Rival agency Standard & Poor's has its equivalent rating two notches higher, at BB, but still two notches below investment grade. There is periodic talk - most recently by former president Carlos Menem - of either abandoning the currency board or dollarising the economy. But neither option has much popular support, and it is questionable whether they would solve any of Argentina's problems. For most Argentines, a devaluation is unthinkable. And given the high amount of dollar-denominated debt held by the country, it would almost certainly lead to a default. The opposite path, of simply adopting the dollar, would also be unlikely to help Argentina's debt situation. ""Argentina's dollarisation - short of full monetary union - would not have a significant impact on the credit quality of the country,"" Moody's wrote in a detailed analysis last year. ""Ultimately, Argentina's fundamental creditworthiness would continue to be largely determined by its fiscal performance, the country's ability to generate net exports and attract foreign capital inflows, all instrumental in the face of an externally determined money supply."" In other words - the very same issues that Argentina faces today. Among them: the fact that Argentina is still a relatively puny exporter, and that, with most of the main privatisations over and done, foreign investment has tailed off. Deregulation in the telecoms sector could help, and that is already under way. But for Argentina, there is simply no quick fix for its present predicament. That leaves policymakers with few options. The country needs to keep its fiscal deficit in check, but most importantly, it needs to see some growth soon. On the positive side, studies suggest that it may not have to perform miracles on either front to get on top of its problems. In a detailed analysis earlier this month entitled Argentina Debt Dynamics: Much ado about not so much , JP Morgan found that the country needed a relatively small adjustment to put its debt ratios back on a sustainable path. Specifically, it needs to grow at a rate of 4.3 "
"___  Document 145 of 634  Visitor's guide to Argentina: Visas  Author: Lezard, Ashleigh  Publication info: Financial Times [London (UK)] 26 Sep 2000: 04.  http://search.proquest.com/docview/248947914?accountid=28034  Abstract: Web sites http://www.surdelsur.com/economia/ indexingles.html - focuses on the main industries and their history in Argentina. http://data.georgetown.edu/pdba/ Countries/countries.cfm?ID=38 -focuses on the political institutions in Argentina. http://www.economatica.com - comprehensive data and software for the analysis of the 1,000 biggest Latin American companies. http://www.interknowledge.com/ argentina - guide to Argentina, especially Buenos Aires, including links to accommodation and restaurants. http://www.bcra.gov.ar - website of the Central Bank of Argentina. http://www.fco.gov.uk/travel/ countryadvice.asp...  Full text: Except for Australians and New Zealanders, a v"
"na's new programme. Faced with a severe credit crunch, Argentina was forced to turn to the IMF for help earlier this month. After more than two years of economic stagnation, investors were fearful that the country might prove unable to borrow the $20bn it needs to continue servicing its $123.5bn in foreign debt. Those fears increased after the October 6 resignation of vice-president Carlos Alvarez, which set off a political crisis that threatened the governing coalition. News of the agreement is expected to help the government at a key test in the markets today, when it holds an auction to sell $550m in Treasury bills. However, the government still faces many challenges. It is likely to have to pass several other measures, such as changes to the state pension fund, by presidential decree. That could complicate passage of the government's 2001 budget, which includes $700m in spending cuts and faces tough opposition in Congress. The government is also dealing with rising social unrest. Unions have called a general strike for Thursday and Friday, timed to coincide with the visit from the IMF. Copyright Financial Times Limited 2000. All Rights Reserved.  "
"hase of dialogue and understanding between our two countries.  Full text: I refer to the page-one article ""Argentina Cries Foul as Choice Employers Beat a Path Next Door"" May 2. The story generalizes a few local, prejudiced opinions that have dominated a few sectors of the media in the past, without reflecting the extremely positive developments in the Brazilian-Argentine relationship. Many of those views have nothing to do with the present realities of the integration and were in fact linked to the Argentine economy's competitive problems. Most of the ""issues"" described are in fact not new, and have been satisfactorily dealt with in the recent phase of dialogue and understanding between our two countries. The agreement recently reached between Brazil and Argentina in the automotive sector and, more importantly, the April"
"___  Document 43 of 634  Fears on Argentina start to unsettle Brazil  Author: Catan, Thomas; Dyer, Geoff  Publication info: Financial Times [London (UK)] 10 Nov 2000: 16.  http://search.proquest.com/docview/248955584?accountid=28034  Abstract: Some Brazilian economists think the impact on the real economy will be limited. ""Unless things get out of control in Argentina, which we do not expect to happen, then the outlook for Brazil should not be significantly altered,"" said Constantin Jancso at MCM Consultores in Sao Paulo. Raul Alfonsin, the former Argentine president, whose comments on the foreign debt helped unnerve international investors, yesterday gave his full backing to the economy minister, Jose Luis Machinea. Argentina's troubles, Page 26 Capital markets, Page 42 Copyright Financial Times Limited 2000. All Rights Reserved.  Full text: The Brazilian economy is beginning to feel the impact of fears of a financial crisis in neighbouring Argentina. Some economists have begun to downgrade their growth forecasts for 2001 because they think the recent depreciation"
" new funds. International investors dumped Argentine bonds in recent weeks, fearful the country could face problems raising the nearly $20bn it needs in financing next year. They also became nervous over the country's tumultuous political scene after Vice-President Carlos Alvarez resigned on October 6, nearly fracturing the coalition government. Investors are keeping a close watch on the progress of the new measures, which include abolishing the state pension system, privatising tax collection and freezing federal and provincial spending for the next five years. The measures require the support of opposition legislators in Congress, where the government does not hold an overall majority. Over the weekend, the president called on political leaders to support the new measures. ""Today, the way to fight for Argentina is to support this programme to get out of the economic crisis,"" he said. Mr De la Rua said he had already received the support of government legislators and several smaller parties. More difficult to secure will be the backing of the opposition Peronist legislators and provincial governors, who have mounted a strong campaign of opposition to the government and key proposals in next year's budget. Government officials made it clear they could pass many of the measures by presidential decree if need be. However, ""the fund wants to make sure there's broad agreement on the measures,"" a senior Argentine official said. One of the president's fiercest critics adopted a more conciliatory tone over the weekend, raising hopes that the economic emergency would force political leaders to rally around the president. Carlos Ruckauf, Peronist governor of Buenos Aires province, said that Peronist leaders would not block the latest measures. ""The president is on the precipice and we are not going to push him,"" he said in an interview with the local media. Copyright Financial Times Limited 2000. All Rights Reserved.  "
"___  Document 47 of 600  Argentina starts IMF funding talks today  Author: Warn, Ken  Publication info: Financial Times [London (UK)] 06 Jan 2000: 05.  http://search.proquest.com/docview/248721900?accountid=28034  Abstract: The new centre-left Alliance government is eager to increase the funding available under the IMF programme, possibly up to $5bn. However, prospects for a larger support package, such as a $10bn package mooted last year, has slipped off the agenda. Winning the IMF's imprimatur is essential for Argentina to rebuild investor confidence and bridge its financing gap for this year, estimated at $17.5bn or more. Under plans announced last month, Argentina aims to raise almost $10bn in the international capital markets this year with a mixture of dollar, yen and euro issues.  Full text: A team from the Inter-national Monetary Fund team is to arrive in Buenos Aires today to start negotiating the extension or possible replacement of Argentina's three-year $2.8bn extended fund facility with the organisation. The new centre-left Alliance government i"
"___  Document 12 of 650  Neighbor-Bashing: Argentina Cries Foul As Choice Employers Beat a Path Next Door --- Brazil Claims the Exodus Is A Well-Deserved Payoff On Its Economic Gamble --- Carting Away `the Furniture'  Author: By Craig Torres and Matt Moffett  Publication info: Wall Street Journal , Eastern edition [New York, N.Y] 02 May 2000: A1.  http://search.proquest.com/docview/398715143?accountid=28034  Abstract: Squads of unemployed laborers, wielding signs that read ""Made in Brazil -- No,"" have taken to the streets to call for a ""Buy Argentine"" campaign. A normally staid Buenos Aires public-affairs TV show recently erupted into a shouting match when union leaders confronted business executives who were comparing Argentina's investment climate unfavorably to Brazil's. And a local radio host, speaking by phone to an Argentine husband-and-wife consulting team, denounced them on air as traitors for working with Brazilian industrial promoters. In the past year, a Who's Who of multinationals, from Philips Electronics NV to Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., along with a host of Argentine companies, have shifted production to Brazil from Argentina, taking thousands of jobs with them. ""The Brazilians are like bad neighbors that come into our house to steal the furniture,"" says Buenos Aires state Gov. Carlos Ruckauf, who has pledged to bar non-Argentine companies from state contracts. That's nonsense, say Brazilian officials, adding that Brazil has just done a better job than Argentina in managing its economy. Since January 1999, when Brazil devalued its currency amid a financial crisis, wages and other costs of doing business there have plummeted. Many economists say those costs now are about 30% lower than in Argentina, which has pegged its currency at parity to the dollar since 1991. The peg has kept inflation in check, but has made Argentina an expensive place to run a company.  Full text: BUENOS AIRES -- Up and down the wide boulevards of this proud capital, there are signs that Argentina's relationship with neighboring Brazil is on the rocks. Squads of unemployed laborers, wielding signs that read ""Made in Brazil -- No,"" have taken to the streets to call for a ""Buy Argentine"" campaign. A normally staid Buenos Aires public-affairs TV show recently erupted into a shouting match when union leaders confronted business executives who were comparing Argentina's investment climate unfavorably to Brazil's. And a local radio host, speaking by phone to an Argentine husband-and-wife consulting team, denounced them on air as traitors for working with Brazilian industrial promoters. Why is anti-Brazilian feeling running so high? It's simple: Argentina woke up one morning not long ago to find that some of its choicest employers had hit the road for Brazil, its main partner in Mercosur, the Latin American trade bloc. In the past year, a Who's Who of multinationals, from Philips Electronics NV to Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., along with a host of Argentine companies, have shifted production to Brazil from Argentina, taking thousands of jobs with them. ""The Brazilians are like bad neighbors that come into our house to steal the furniture,"" says Buenos Aires state Gov. Carlos Ruckauf, who has pledged to bar non-Argentine companies from state contracts. That's nonsense, say Brazilian officials, adding that Brazil has just done a better job than Argentina in managing its economy. Since January 1999, when Brazil devalued its currency amid a financial crisis, wages and other costs of doing business there have plummeted. Many economists say those costs now are about 30% lower than in Argentina, which has pegged its currency at parity to the dollar since 1991. The peg has kept inflation in check, but has made Argentina an expensive place to run a company. ""There's just no way Argentina, with that currency, can keep pace with us anymore,"" says Paulo Mallmann, an economist at Banco Industrial & Comercial, in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Some of the passions driving the dispute are rooted in a centuries-long rivalry. Argentina and Brazil fought a war with each other in the 19th century, and even in more recent decades, southern Brazilian states built railroad tracks narrower than Argentina's to discourage any invasion. Culturally, the two neighbors could hardly be more different. Argentina was one of the most prosperous nations in the world at the beginning of the 20th century, and even a"
"ackage began to leak. In an effort to calm nervous markets, Argentina dispatched Ricardo Lopez Murphy, the defence minister and a respected economist, to meet investors in New York. Daniel Marx, the minister in charge of public debt, and Mario Vicens, treasury secretary, were in Washington putting the final touches on the international rescue package. The World Bank also added its backing to Argentina's reforms and said it would contribute to the IMF-led financial rescue package. People familiar with the negotiations expect a total of around $11bn from the IMF and some $4bn from the World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank. Other contributions could be made by Argentine pension funds, as well as local and international banks. Separately, the Economy Ministry said a group of four local banks had offered to buy $625m in promissory notes due 2002. * Leslie Crawford adds from Madrid: Officials said Spain would contribute to the Argentine package once Mr de la Rua's government reached agreement with the IMF. They said Rodrigo Rato, the economy minister, was in daily contact with Washington and Buenos Aires. Copyright Financial Times Limited 2000. All Rights Reserved.  "
___  Document 528 of 634  Argentine economy recovering  Publication info: Financial Times [London (UK)] 10 Mar 2000: 01.  http://search.proquest.com/docview/24892930
"n from the new loan facility in December. Mr Machinea insisted that both the budget and the series of reforms required by the IMF were proceeding apace. The government has already persuaded provincial governors to sign up to a five-year spending freeze. It must now secure approval for controversial reforms to the social security and state pension systems - or pass them by presidential decree. An IMF mission arrived in Buenos Aires yesterday to hammer out the final details of the package and discuss the country's compliance with the conditions of the aid. Argentina accounts for up to a quarter of tradeable emerging market debt worldwide, leading to fears of contagion if it were to be forced into default. After more than two years of economic recession, investors became alarmed last month that Argentina might be unable to raise the nearly $20bn it needs next year to keep servicing its foreign debt. The resulting crisis of confidence forced Argentina to turn to the IMF for help in meeting payment on its $123.5bn in foreign debt. Copyright Financial Times Limited 2000. All Rights Reserved.  "
"___  Document 79 of 400  The Americas: Mercosur's trial by adversity  Author: Anonymous  Publication info: The Economist 355.8172 (May 27, 2000): 37-38.  http://search.proquest.com/docview/224049899?accountid=28034  Abstract: Only a few months ago, Mercosur, South America's main trading group, looked to some to be near collapse. But hysteria has given way to common sense. After five years of talking, Brazil and Argentina suddenly struck a deal to phase out by 2006 the remaining restrictions on trade between them in cars and car parts. Setting the seal on all this, a meeting of the two countries' foreign and finance ministers in Buenos Aires last month ended in an agreement to relaunch Mercosur. The two countries hope to revive the agenda for deepening the trade block. And they want to remove the cause of some of the recent friction by bringing their economies into closer harmony. To that end, they have set a timetable for a mini-Maastricht - a set of economic-convergence targets similar to those in the Maastricht treaty that led to the euro. Meeting the mini-Maastricht targets will involve sticking to, and even toughening, unpopular austerity programs, and approving difficult domestic reforms.  Full text: Headnote Investors are worrying again about Brazil and Argentina. Paraguay's democracy has suffered another shock, as our next story explains. But at least Mercosur has a plan to try to ease the tensions that have almost destroyed it ONLY a few months ago, Mercosur, South America's main trading group, looked to some to be near collapse. Argentina was gripped by a wave of anti-Brazilian feeling: Carlos Ruckauf, the governor of Buenos Aires province, called for sanctions against the many firms that he claimed were closing their factories and rushing to Brazil, lured by big subsidies and a devalued currency. Brazil, for its part, was threatening to take Argentina to the World Trade Organisation over the import quotas it had imposed against ""dumped"" textile exports. But hysteria has given way to common sense. Argentina's media took a sceptical look at industrial lobbyists' claims of a mass exodus, and found them exaggerated. Argentina accepted a verdict by a Mercosur arbitration panel that its textile quotas were unjustified. After five years of talking, Brazil and Argentina suddenly struck a deal to phase out by 2006 the remaining restrictions on trade between them in cars and car parts. Setting the seal on all this, a meet"
"ational Monetary Fund to bail out Argentina's economy will be in cash, a senior Economy Ministry official said. The amount of IMF aid has yet to be announced. Argentine officials had previously said they meant to use the IMF aid package only as a contingency credit line to provide funds in case of an emergency. Local market sources estimate the package, designed to allay widespread fears of a 2001 debt default in Latin America's third-largest economy, will be valued at $20 billion. Argentina, whose economy has suffered two years of recession and stagnation, has been unable to obtain credit on international markets for weeks and has been paying sky-high rates in the domestic market to get financing. ""This will allow us to"