Argentina’s historic issuance of $16.5bn worth of bonds in April 2016 marked the country’s return to the international capital markets after effectively being barred for 15 years. Argentina has had a troubling history in global markets, having defaulted on its sovereign debt eight times since 1816, the most significant being the 2001 default on more than $80bn.
In the 15 years preceding President Mauricio Macri’s election in 2015, Argentina progressively distanced itself from global supply chains through the implementation of protectionist measures aimed at aligning economic policies with the government’s political agenda.
The Argentine financial sector has gone through extensive structural change in the last decades in response to a variety of factors, including financial crises, debt defaults, privatisations and regulatory reforms. As in other emerging markets, the number of financial institutions in operation has declined significantly from 723 in 1977 to 110 in 2000. The 2001 economic crisis...
After the adoption of more market-friendly policies, Argentina’s banking sector has gradually begun to show signs of a return to positive growth. Since 2015 the government has been undertaking a number of reforms aimed at boosting investor confidence in the sector, increasing financial intermediation and improving the overall health of the...
Despite a turbulent few months across many emerging markets in mid-2018, Argentina is pushing ahead with growth-oriented capital markets reform, supported by a strategically important index reclassification and record-breaking international development financing.
The decision by the Argentine government in May 2018 to seek financial support from the IMF was a stark reminder of the early 2000s, from which the country had appeared to have been successfully recovering in recent years. The recourse to the IMF, which granted the country a loan of $50bn the following month, was sparked by a run on the Argentine peso that reduced the value of...
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