Category: Argentina

State-owned oil company Petrobrás and federal energy company Eletrobrás have signed an agreement which will allow the former to sell the latter its indirect stake in Transener, Argentina’s largest electricity supplier. Antimonopoly authorities in Argentina had ordered Petrobrás to disinvest itself of its stake in the energy transmitter.

Argentina has set a date of 3 October for its return to the international market with the launch of the first tranche of its $2 billion Boden. The first tranche will be for $1 billion. The dollar-denominated Boden 2015 will be issued through private and public placements. This is only the third issue in US dollars the sovereign has made since it defaulted on its debt in 2002. The country issued a peso-denominated Boden 2014 in May this year for a total of just over $1 billion, and two dollar-denominated Boden 2012 in July and August totaling $792 million.

Intel Corp., the world’s largest producer of microprocessors, is to invest in building a software development centre in Argentina. It has signed an agreement with the Argentinian government to open a centre in the province of Córdoba by 2006, initially employing 400 people. A new Software Law, effective this year, makes Argentina an attractive location for technology companies.

Argentina’s central bank has said it may increase its gold reserves to protect against inflation and future economic crises. The country only holds 3% of its reserves I gold, having sold most of what it held in 1997. However, it now considers gold to be a more liquid asset, a view it says it shares with several other Latin American countries that currently have no gold among their reserves.

Argentina is to issue $2 billion in new 10-year dollar-denominated domestic bonds, with a first tranche of $1 billion to be launched on 21 September. The Boden 2015 will be the government’s third dollar-denominated issue since it defaulted on its sovereign debt in December 2001. The economy ministry hopes to pay no more than 8% interest, close to the 7.84% for the most recent Boden 2012. The government will use the issue to finance debt service – estimated at $3.87 billion – between now and year end.

France’s Suez SA, the world’s second-largest water company, has announced it will pull out of Argentina following several years of tense relations with the government. Suez, which bought a controlling stake in Aguas Argentinas in 1993, has been arguing against a tariff freeze imposed by the government following the default and 75% devaluation of 2001-2002.

Argentina, Chile and Uruguay lead the region in the UN’s Human Development Index for 2005. Guatemala brings up the rear in Latin America. Argentina ranked 34th in the world and Uruguay came in 46th place. Both countries’ rankings were unchanged from last year. Chile has improved strongly, rising to 37th from 43rd in 2004. Mexico, Latin America’s biggest economy ranked 53rd and Brazil came 63rd. The index measures income, health, and education levels in 177 countries.

Héctor Méndez, president of Argentina’s Industrial Union (UIA) called on business leaders to defend against “depredation from abroad of our industries and jobs.” His comments follow a government decision to impose import regulations on only a narrow range of imported products such as textiles and footwear, which come mainly from Brazil and China. Méndez and the UIA want controls on a broader range of goods.

Spanish-Argentine energy giant Repsol YPF will invest $100 million to expand its gas pipeline system in northern Argentina. The project will be partially financed with $110 million provided by TGN, Brazilian development bank BNDES, and Argentina’s Banco Nacion. Repsol YPF says the expansion will benefit Salta and Tucuman provinces in northwestern Argentina, and Cordoba in the country’s center.

Spanish-Argentine energy giant Repsol YPF will invest $100 million to expand its gas pipeline system in northern Argentina. The project will be partially financed with $110 million provided by TGN, Brazilian development bank BNDES, and Argentina’s Banco Nacion. Repsol YPF says the expansion will benefit Salta and Tucuman provinces in northwestern Argentina, and Cordoba in the country’s center.