ARGENTINA: INFLATION SKYROCKETS, ECONOMY TAILSPINS

Argentina’s inflation rate ended 2019 at 53.8 percent, down from a peak of 84 percent during the year. It’s among the five countries with the world’s worst inflation pace.
This month, bank deposits have been off their usual pace by about $40 million a day, compared to rising deposit rates in December.
Worsening the tailspin is Argentina’s inability to pay its bills. The country is facing its ninth default on its sovereign debt, apparently unable to meet its self-imposed March deadline to solve the problem.
The province of Buenos Aires has failed to secure the national government’s help to pay its own bondholders and so has delayed a 26 January interest payment until 1 May. The province’s insolvency will likely worsen the country’s prospects to negotiate its way out of the debt crisis.