Argentina taxes exports in bid to save its economy

ARGENTINA is to tax exports and scrap entire government ministries after its president declared an economic emergency.

Mauricio Macri told TV viewers the austerity measures were needed to rein in the country’s budget deficit and pull its economy back from the brink.

His government is scrambling to calm markets after weeks of economic turmoil which have sent the peso plummeting to record lows against the dollar.

In response, the central bank has hiked interest rates to an unprecedented 60pc.

Macri insisted the export taxes, imposed because exporters have benefited from the stronger dollar, were temporary and would be lifted when conditions improved.

But he added: ‘This is not just another crisis. It has to be the last. We cannot continue spending more than we have, living beyond our tax revenues.’

It set the stage for a crucial meeting in Washington DC today between finance minister Nicolas Dujovne and International Monetary Fund head Christine Lagarde. Argentina is pleading with the fund to speed up payments under a £39bn loan agreement. Without the IMF’s support, economists fear the peso could drop lower and leave the country unable to make payments on its debt – which is mostly in dollars.