Investing in Argentina
The Financial Times proposes to publish this FT Report in 2024
We plan to include the following features (please note that this list is provisional):
Introduction: Is this Argentina’s Moment?
After years of economic turmoil, Argentina stands at a crossroads. The election of Javier Milei, a radical libertarian president promising drastic reforms has excited investors and raised spirits in the business community. The Milei phenomenon has aroused widespread global interest, with tech billionaires and hedge fund managers among his biggest fans. But can Milei deliver on his promises and overcome congressional resistance to deliver the big changes the country needs to return to growth and make the most of its huge opportunities?
Finance Minister Interview
What are the government’s top priorities for economic reform and how does it plan to keep budgets balanced while restoring growth? Will the government dollarise the economy and when does it plan to lift exchange controls? How will it take privatisation forward? FT interview with former Wall Street trader and Economy Minister Luis Caputo (or failing him, deregulation minister Federico Sturzenegger).
The Oil and Gas Boom Underway at Vaca Muerta
Fourteen years after the discovery of the world’s second-largest shale gas and fourth-largest shale oil at Vaca Muerta, the remote Patagonian field’s moment may finally be here. Drillers have been posting rapid production increases as gas pipeline infrastructure materialises. An ambitious LNG export plan, led by state energy firm YPF, has sparked enormous interest from investors amid a global surge in demand for the liquified fuel. We look at the most promising projects and the challenges still to overcome for Argentina to become a major oil and gas exporter.
Lithium and Copper make Argentina a Mining Investor Darling
Thanks to constitutional rules that leave control over natural resources in the hands of investment-hungry provinces, and to federal government enthusiasm to diversify the country’s exports, Argentina has developed the world’s largest lithium pipeline, with half a dozen projects set to come online and production to increase seven-fold by 2030. The country is also finally tapping its long-neglected copper reserves, which analysts say could be an even bigger industry than lithium, with one project under construction, seven more in development, and an ambitious goal to become a top-ten producer by 2030.
Huge Hidden Wealth
While the government is perennially short of hard currency, Argentines are not. They hold an estimated $278bn outside of the formal system, in overseas accounts or in cash in safety deposit boxes or stuffed under mattresses.
The undeclared dollars are the result of Argentina’s tight capital restrictions, widespread distrust of erratic tax policy, and the ever-depreciating peso—which has lost 97 per cent of its value against the dollar in the last five years alone. Milei’s government hopes to tap some of those dollars via a tax amnesty and other policies. This piece will look at how Argentines’ across the economic ladder hide and use their dollars, ask them what it would take to bring them in, and speak to government officials about how they plan to pursue them.
Tourism Boom Stretches Infrastructure in Patagonia
Long a favourite with explorers and adventurers, the vast southern wilderness of Patagonia is now a big hit with luxury tourists. An influx of wealthy visitors means that $3000 a night lodges with guest chefs are springing up, along with a host of lesser accommodation. The boom is bringing wealth to the remote region but also putting pressure on precarious infrastructure in what was a pristine wilderness. Report from Los Glaciares National Park in Santa Cruz province and from Ushuaia, the world’s most southerly city.
The New Boom in High-altitude Wine
The mainstay of the Argentine wine industry is the Malbec grape grown in the province of Mendoza. But a fresh boom is being powered by high-altitude wines from more exotic locations such as the northern province of Salta or southern Patagonia, which are bringing new grape varieties to global attention and catching the interest of connaisseurs and tourists alike.
Can Food Exports Regain Competitiveness?
Argentina is the world’s third largest food exporter and its abundant stock of arable land means it could be much bigger still at a time when global food supplies are under pressure. New technology and stable government rules hold the key to unlocking the sector’s full potential.
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