2025-09-24 19:25
MEXICO CITY, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Mexican state oil firm Pemex's financial debt should end the third quarter at around $80 billion, Finance Minister Edgar Amador said on Wednesday. Pemex is one of the world's most heavily indebted energy companies, with nearly $100 billion in financial debt and some $22 billion owed to suppliers and contractors. Sign up here. In August, the government rolled out a sweeping plan to end its handouts for the company by 2027. The oil producer is slated to receive some 263.5 billion pesos ($14.30 billion) from the government in 2026 to help the firm meet its debt and loan payments, according the government's budget plan. Mexico is set to raise around $14 billion through two fresh bond issues , opens new tab launched earlier this month to go toward Pemex, with the majority of the funds paying for a sweeping Pemex bond buyback. ($1 = 18.4235 Mexican pesos) https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/mexican-state-oil-firm-pemexs-financial-debt-poised-drop-80-billion-end-q3-2025-09-24/
2025-09-24 19:08
BUENOS AIRES, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Argentina's economic activity grew 2.9% in July compared with the same month last year, official data showed on Wednesday. The figure for Latin America's third-largest economy came in below the 3.3% figure projected by analysts polled by Reuters. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/argentine-economic-activity-rises-29-july-2025-09-24/
2025-09-24 18:07
MPC member Greene favours caution on rate cuts Inflation might prove higher than BoE forecasts Central banks can no longer look through supply shocks BoE has suggested it might slow rate cuts LONDON, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Risks have grown that inflation in Britain will prove stronger than the Bank of England has forecast, meriting a cautious approach to further interest rate cuts, BoE policymaker Megan Greene said on Wednesday. Greene voted last week with the majority of members of the BoE's Monetary Policy Committee to keep the central bank's benchmark Bank Rate at 4%. In August she had opposed the quarter-point cut that was approved in a narrow 5-4 decision. Sign up here. "I believe an appropriate response to the uncertainty and risks we are currently facing should involve a cautious approach to rate cuts going forward," she said in the text of a speech published by the BoE. "The risks to our inflation outlook have shifted to the upside," Greene said. She cited persistent price pressures after the shocks of the COVID pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which sent energy prices soaring. Greene said she was less concerned about a rapid weakening of the labour market than she was a year ago. In her speech to the University of Glasgow, Greene said it was time to rethink the typical approach by central banks to look beyond supply shocks to the economy, and instead factor them into monetary policy decisions. At its meeting this month, the BoE suggested it could slow the pace of its rate reductions in borrowing costs in the face of Britain's stubborn inflation pressures. Investors are pricing a next rate cut only in February or March next year. Britain has the highest inflation rate among Group of Seven economies, at 3.8% in August, and the BoE thinks it will peak at 4% in September before falling back to the central bank's 2% target only in the spring of 2027. The BoE's chief economist, Huw Pill, one of the MPC members who has been most concerned about inflation, said on Tuesday that he was more comfortable with the outlook for price pressures in Britain than he was earlier this year. In a newspaper interview published on Wednesday, Governor Andrew Bailey reiterated his view that borrowing costs are likely to fall further. "But exactly when that will be and how much it will be will depend on the path of inflation going down," Bailey told West Midlands Life. https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/cautious-approach-rate-cuts-is-justified-by-risks-says-boes-greene-2025-09-24/
2025-09-24 18:05
Sept 24 (Reuters) - Crypto giant Tether has appointed Benjamin Habbel as its chief business officer, the company said on Wednesday, as it looks to broaden its investments beyond digital assets. Habbel, who served as CEO of private equity firm Limestone Capital and held senior roles at Google, will oversee Tether's growth strategy, finance, investment and portfolio expansion. Sign up here. The company said he will also work with its existing portfolio, which spans sectors including artificial intelligence, telecommunications, bitcoin mining and energy, cloud computing and real estate. El Salvador-based firm's USDT stablecoin, which is pegged to the U.S. dollar, has a market capitalization of about $173 billion, according to data from CoinGecko. Last year, Tether invested $200 million in Blackrock Neurotech, taking a majority stake in the U.S. brain implant company. "Tether isn't just a stablecoin company — it's The Stable Company," Chief Executive Paolo Ardoino said in a statement, adding that Habbel's appointment would help accelerate the firm's evolution into technology and financial services. The move comes as Tether seeks to expand in the United States, where crypto firms have gained from President Donald Trump's supportive stance on the sector and the rollout of a U.S.-focused stablecoin, USAT. Tether has cemented its role as the leading stablecoin issuer, providing tokens tied to traditional currencies to reduce volatility and hold a steady value backed by reserves. https://www.reuters.com/business/tether-names-ex-google-limestone-executive-chief-business-officer-2025-09-24/
2025-09-24 17:37
US Treasury backs Argentina with $20 billion currency swap and bond purchases offer Local stocks pare sharp gains to rise 1.5%; peso up 10% so far this week Analysts say US backing boosts Milei's political and economic position NEW YORK/LONDON, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Argentina's financial assets rallied for a third straight day on Wednesday after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent detailed massive support for Argentine President Javier Milei's right-wing government and the country's markets. Bessent said , opens new tab the U.S. was in negotiations over a $20 billion currency swap line with Argentina's central bank, and said it was prepared to purchase Argentina's dollar-denominated bonds in the secondary market. Sign up here. The South American country has tools to fight "those who seek to destabilize Argentina's markets for political objectives," Bessent said, reaffirming the political connection to the U.S. support. On Monday, he said the administration was seeing a shift to the right in Latin American politics when he teased the U.S. backing of Milei's project. Numerous U.S. companies would invest in Argentina "in the event of a positive election outcome," Bessent said. Argentina goes to the polls on October 26 for legislative midterm elections, in which Milei's party aims to gain seats to strengthen its minority position. In early September, the party suffered a bruising defeat in local elections in the populous Buenos Aires Province amid accusations of corruption inside Milei's circle, including his sister and close confidant Karina Milei. "This degree of U.S. support for Argentina was beyond what any analyst could have imagined just a few weeks ago," said Alejo Czerwonko, chief investment officer for emerging markets in the Americas at UBS. "It stands among the strongest examples of U.S. Treasury backing in the history of emerging markets." Argentina's 2030 bond rose 3.5 cents in price to trade at 74.78 cents on the dollar, while the Global X Argentina stocks ETF added 2%, with bank stocks leading the gains. The local stock benchmark (.MERV) , opens new tab rose 1.5% after rising as much as 6.6% earlier. The peso shaved some of the day's gains to strengthen near 2%, taking the weekly gains versus the U.S. dollar to 10%. "We would like to see a policy shift that allows for the central bank to accumulate international reserves aggressively," said Alexis Roach, emerging markets sovereign analyst at Payden & Rygel. "This should translate into changing the monetary framework to allow for more currency flexibility." Bonds had fallen as much as 20% for the year as of last week and the local peso was hitting against the weaker limit of a band set in place in April, in connection with a $20 billion program approved by the International Monetary Fund. The central bank had to burn over $1 billion last week in defence of the currency. Aberdeen fund manager Kevin Daly said this week's sharp rebound in bond prices meant there was now "limited upside" going into the midterms, with the focus being on how Milei's party fares and how far and fast the peso will be allowed to fall after the vote. "This U.S. (support) is coming to the rescue but that alone won't save Argentina. It has to take steps too," Daly said. MARKET BOUNCE BACK The market has rebounded dramatically after Bessent said on Monday the U.S. would do whatever it takes to support Milei and Argentina's reforms. "It's hard to know if this will influence the midterm results but certainly it improves Milei's negotiating power with governors and offers the country more firepower to defend itself in the case of an adverse outcome," said Aaron Gifford, senior EM sovereign analyst at T. Rowe Price. He said Argentina's macroeconomic fundamentals are not concerning despite a dip in overall growth, while foreign exchange reserves accumulation, a main concern, should be covered by the U.S. support. "Tail risks have been significantly reduced, and the rally should continue at least in the near term," he said. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/argentine-assets-rally-bessent-details-strong-us-support-2025-09-24/
2025-09-24 16:45
MEXICO CITY, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Mexico's headline inflation sped up in the first half of September, broadly in line with market expectations, heading closer to the upper limit of the central bank's target. Banxico, as the central bank is known, is expected to further cut its benchmark interest rate 25 basis points later this week, but persistent inflation casts doubts on its path moving forward. Sign up here. "Headline inflation close to expectations and core inflation slightly sticky — keeps Thursday's monetary policy decision in play, but calls for a measured tone in future guidance," said Felipe Barragan, research strategist at Pepperstone. Consumer prices were up 3.74% in the 12 months through mid-September, statistics agency INEGI said on Wednesday, speeding from a prior figure of 3.49%. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast an annual rate of 3.77%. The closely watched core price index, which strips out some volatile food and energy prices, kept picking up with a 4.26% annual increase in early September, from the prior figure of 4.21%, and landed slightly above expectations of a 4.24% increase. While the market expects inflation in Latin America's second-largest economy to reach 3.9% by the end of the year, Banxico targets an inflation rate of 3%, plus or minus a percentage point. Despite inflation's speed-up, "Banxico anticipates a further deepening of conditions that allow for slack (weakness in economic activity), which going forward would reduce inflationary pressures," analysts at brokerage Monex said. Month-on-month Mexican consumer prices rose 0.18% during the first half of September, also accelerating from a prior decrease of 0.02%, and compared with a 0.19% rise expected by economists in the poll. The core price index (MXCPIH=ECI) , opens new tab kept picking up with a 0.22% monthly increase from the prior figure of 0.09%. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/mexicos-inflation-speeds-up-early-september-2025-09-24/
