LatinNews Daily - 25 September 2023

* Argentina’s economy ministry has announced that the country posted a primary deficit of Ar$36.96bn (US$105.6m) in August 2023. In a statement, the economy ministry highlighted the crippling effect on the national finances of the drought which has hit the country this year, and which has resulted in a fall in tax revenues from the agriculture and livestock sector. The economy ministry said that this reflected a fall of approximately Ar$1trn (0.6% of GDP), with respect to forecasts included in the 2023 national budget. It said that if this had not occurred, the primary deficit accumulated in the first eight months of 2023 would have presented an improvement of 0.6% of GDP. In July the economy ministry released data which showed that the primary deficit more than doubled from the local currency equivalent of US$2.7bn in the first half of 2022 to US$6.7bn in the first half of 2023 – a rise which officials attributed to the impact of drought on tax revenue.