Sep 3, 2018

Argentina announces emergency spending cuts as financial crisis looms

Zachary Basu

Currency exchange in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Photo: Eitan Abramovich/AFP via Getty Images

Argentine President Mauricio Macri announced steep spending cuts and new taxes on exports Monday in an effort to restore investor confidence, following a disastrous week that saw the peso lose 20% of its value against the dollar, reports the Financial Times.

The big picture: The Argentine government is taking drastic steps, including raising interest rates to 60%, with the hope of fending off another crisis in a country that has experienced decades of financial turmoil. Macri's aggressive plan to balance the budget comes as Argentina seeks an acceleration of bailout funds from the IMF.

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Coronavirus spreads to more countries, and U.S. ups its case count

Data: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins, the CDC, and China's Health Ministry. Note: China numbers are for the mainland only and U.S. numbers include repatriated citizens.

The novel coronavirus continues to spread to more nations, and the U.S. reports a doubling of its confirmed cases to 34 — while noting those are mostly due to repatriated citizens, emphasizing there's no "community spread" yet in the U.S. Meanwhile, Italy reported its first virus-related death on Friday.

The big picture: COVID-19 has now killed at least 2,251 people and infected almost 77,000 others, mostly in mainland China. New countries to announce infections recently include Israel, Lebanon and Iran.

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Orion Rummler

Wells Fargo agrees to pay $3 billion to settle consumer abuse charges

Clients use an ATM at a Wells Fargo Bank in Los Angeles, Calif. Photo: Ronen Tivony/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Wells Fargo agreed to a pay a combined $3 billion to the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday for opening millions of fake customer accounts between 2002 and 2016, the SEC said in a press release.

The big picture: The fine "is among the largest corporate penalties reached during the Trump administration," the Washington Post reports.

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