GDP slump in Argentina worse than 2002 crisis

According to Argentina’s official statistics agency (Indec), the country’s GDP dropped 19.1 percent in Q2 2020 when compared to the same period in 2019. From Q1 2020, the quarterly contraction reached 16.2 percent — slightly better than most forecasts.

The year-on-year change for Q2 2020 was even worse than the 2002 crisis, when Argentina faced one of its most dire moments in recent history. On that occasion, year-on-year GDP growth rates showed a 16.3-percent hit.

Argentina has been in recession since 2018 — and the pandemic only made matters worse, as the country entered lockdown in mid-March and is still enforcing some restrictive measures. Moreover, Argentina still has a large debt to pay to the International Monetary Fund and other foreign creditors. 

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