Reality bites in Argentina's search for foreign funds

Significance

Argentina has followed Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Peru and Venezuela into the AIIB as President Mauricio Macri seeks increased foreign investment. With the arguable exception of China, many of Macri’s overseas interlocutors have proved more interested in trading opportunities than investment projects, while the resolution of pending debt disputes has also failed to redress investment shortfalls.

Impacts

• Failure to show benefits from much-vaunted foreign policy ‘openness’ will undermine Macri’s mid-term election hopes.
• Rising debt is a medium-term concern, and in the short term is financing the deficit rather than investment.
• Greater dependence on China may raise eyebrows even among Macri’s constituency.