Argentina's Javier Milei to water down privatisation push

The country’s new president no longer plans to sell off state oil company YPF



Jonathan Gilbert and Manuela Tobias
Mon 22 Jan 2024 at 20:30

The privatisation of Argentina’s state-run oil company YPF is no longer included in sweeping reforms that President Javier Milei is trying to get approved by his country’s congress, according to a summary of the legislation circulated by the government.

The so-called omnibus bill, currently up for debate in the lower house, was changed after negotiations with lawmakers. It is the clearest sign yet that libertarian hard-liner Mr Milei, whose party has only a minority in congress, is willing to make concessions in order to push through a radical reform package that would shred the fabric of Argentina's interventionist economy to build a free-market haven.

YPF is Argentina's biggest oil driller and refiner. It was nationalised in 2012 to spearhead development of shale riches in Patagonia after Spanish owners were accused of neglecting production. And while YPF has found some success there – shale oil now makes up nearly half of the country's crude output of 760,000 barrels a day – it has been hobbled by government meddling in fuel prices to contain runaway inflation.

Its New York-listed shares have fallen almost 30pc since the nationalisation. But some investors had recently been buying up YPF securities in the hope Mr Milei would see through a re-privatisation that could, in theory, make the company more efficient and profitable.

More:
https://www.independent.ie/business/world/argentinas-javier-milei-to-water-down-privatisation-push/a582132135.html