International
Argentina will honor economic goals agreed with IMF: new minister
AFP
Argentina’s new economy minister said Monday the country would honor fiscal deficit goals and other commitments made under a deal struck with the IMF to refinance a debt of some $44 billion.
Under the agreement negotiated by Silvina Batakis’ predecessor Martin Guzman, who resigned suddenly nine days ago, Argentina committed to reducing its fiscal deficit from 3.0 percent of GDP last year to 2.5 percent in 2022, 1.9 percent in 2023 and 0.9 percent in 2024.
“The goals agreed with the IMF are maintained,” Batakis said in Buenos Aires at her first press conference since taking office a week ago.
“It is an agreement we signed as a state and we must comply.”
In 2018, under the government of conservative President Mauricio Macri, the International Monetary Fund granted its biggest-ever loan of $57 billion to Argentina.
The country received $44 billion of that amount and Macri’s successor Alberto Fernandez refused to accept the rest.
As the country struggled to repay its debt, a refinancing agreement was reached this year after protracted negotiations.
Guzman resigned suddenly on July 2 amid a power struggle between Argentina’s president and vice president, sparking fresh uncertainty in Latin America’s third largest economy.
The peso fell sharply last Monday against the US dollar after Batakis’ appointment.
On Monday, the 53-year-old said there was a need to “give order and balance to the public finances,” and vowed that “we will not spend more than we have.”
Among her proposals: to reduce energy subsidies, which in 2021 amounted to $11 billion or 2.3 percent of GDP, by applying a sliding scale to prices for gas and electricity based on income.
In 2020, the Argentine economy contracted 9.9 percent before rebounding the following year by 10.3 percent.
For this year, the IMF predicts growth of 4.0 percent.
At the time the refinancing agreement was reached, Argentina’s inflation was projected to reach 52 percent in 2022 — already one of the highest in the world.
Since then, the war in Ukraine has sent prices soaring worldwide, and Argentina marked year-on-year inflation of 60 percent in May.
“The agreement was signed before the rise in global inflation,” said Batakis, adding a new estimate for 2022 was being compiled.
“It is a methodological issue we are evaluating, not a shifting of the goal,” she insisted.
A survey by Argentina’s central bank of projections for 2022 inflation put the rate at some 76 percent.
International
7 in 10 mexicans born poor stay poor, new report finds
Seven out of ten Mexicans born into poverty remain poor throughout their lives, highlighting an urgent need for public policies focused on promoting social mobility through equal opportunity, according to civil society organizations.
The 2025 Social Mobility Report in Mexico, published by the Espinosa Yglesias Center for Studies (CEEY), reveals that 73% of individuals born into the bottom 20% of income households in Mexico — Latin America’s second-largest economy — continue to live in poverty based on income.
The report signals a worrisome stagnation in social mobility, defined as the ability of individuals to improve their socioeconomic standing compared to that of their parents. This lack of upward movement indicates that one’s economic origins are largely inherited, according to CEEY.
Geographically, disparities are stark:
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In northern Mexico, 37% of those born in poverty remain there.
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In the south, that number rises dramatically to 64%.
Gender gaps are also evident. Among those born in wealthier households, women experience less upward mobility, with a rate of 47% compared to 53% for men.
The report also notes that 48% of economic inequality in Mexico stems from inequality of opportunity — placing Mexico among the top ten countries with the highest opportunity inequality across 50 nations analyzed globally.
International
Spain hits record 46°C in June amid scorching heatwave
Spain registered a record-breaking temperature of 46°C (114.8°F) on Saturday, June 28, in El Granado, Huelva — a southern town near the Portuguese border — marking the highest temperature ever recorded in June in the country, according to Spain’s national meteorological agency, Aemet.
The temperature was officially recorded at 4:40 p.m. local time, surpassing the previous June record of 45.2°C (113.4°F)set in Seville back in 1965, also in the Andalusia region.
Like many parts of Southern Europe, Spain is experiencing a severe heatwave, with large areas of the country facing temperatures above 40°C even though summer has just begun.
As one of Europe’s countries most vulnerable to climate change, Spain has endured its three hottest years on recordfrom 2022 to 2024, marked by repeated heatwaves and temperature extremes.
Climate scientists have long warned that global warming is amplifying the intensity, frequency, and duration of extreme weather events such as heatwaves and droughts — trends now evident across the Iberian Peninsula and the broader Mediterranean region.
International
Trump administration sues Los Angeles over sanctuary city policies
The Republican administration of Donald Trump filed a lawsuit on Monday against Los Angeles officials, challenging the city’s sanctuary policies as illegal amid an intensifying federal immigration crackdown.
The Department of Justice accused the Democratic-led city of interfering with federal immigration enforcement, arguing that its sanctuary policies have contributed to “violence, chaos, and attacks on law enforcement” recently seen in Los Angeles.
“The sanctuary city policies were the cause of violence, chaos, and attacks on law enforcement that Americans recently witnessed in Los Angeles,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi in an official statement.
The lawsuit, filed in a California federal court, names Mayor Karen Bass, City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson, and the entire City Council as defendants.
While Los Angeles had long been considered a sanctuary city for immigrants, the City Council officially adopted the designation through a municipal ordinance in November last year, following Trump’s election to the presidency.
The legal action seeks to limit local authorities’ cooperation with federal immigration agents under Trump’s policies.
With over one-third of its population being immigrants, Los Angeles has become a flashpoint in the battle against Trump’s anti-immigration agenda, which began with his campaign promise to deport millions.
Tensions in the city escalated earlier this month after an increase in workplace immigration raids, sparking mass protests downtown. The situation further intensified when Trump overrode California Governor Gavin Newsom and ordered the deployment of thousands of National Guard troops and 700 U.S. Marines to the area.
7 in 10 mexicans born poor stay poor, new report finds
Spain hits record 46°C in June amid scorching heatwave
Trump administration sues Los Angeles over sanctuary city policies
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