ARGENTINA

On August 11, the Primary, Open, Simultaneous and Mandatory (PASO) elections to elect the country’s president and vice president were held. Opposition candidate Alberto Fernandez (Frente de Todos) won with 47.65% of the votes, beating President Mauricio Macri, who obtained 32.08%. With these results, the most likely scenario in the general elections of October 27 is that Fernandez will be elected president of Argentina. 

Following this news, the country’s financial markets plunged on Monday, and the Argentine peso was devalued by more than 30 percent, while the country risk rating increased to 1800 points. To attempt to mitigate the situation given the highly unfavorable scenario, on Wednesday, President Macri launched a package of economic measures. These include a plan for SMEs, allowing them to pay their outstanding tax obligations with the Federal Administration of Public Revenue (AFIP) over a 10-year period, as well as modifications to the Income Tax formula, and an increase in the minimum wage, to increase the salaries of workers outside collective agreements. 

October sees not only the definition of the duo which will occupy the presidency until 2023, but also the political composition of Congress for the next two years. If the figures achieved in Sunday’s primaries are repeated, the balance of forces in the Chamber of Deputies would be evened out between the two main interblocks (Cambiemos and Frente de Todos). In the Senate, the Frente de Todos would obtain 14 of the 24 seats, just one seat away from achieving its own quorum.