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BUENOS AIRES/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Argentina’s Peronist government has had a wild ride in its first year of government: a sovereign default, mammoth debt restructurings, sliding reserves, a currency crisis and a weak economy battered by COVID-19.
There have been wins and losses since taking office in December last year. Debt deals were struck that allowed the government to revamp some $110 billion in foreign currency bonds and push repayments well into the future. Crunch talks with the International Monetary Fund remain positive.
On the flip-side, weakness in the peso has drained foreign reserves, while the central bank was forced into printing money to bolster the pandemic-hit economy. Exports have been sluggish amid devaluation fears.
The Australian dollar slipped on Friday after disappointing retail sales data for December though it was still on track for a strong weekly rise while its New Zealand peer was slightly weaker as well.
Indonesia's central bank has room for further policy rate cuts but at the moment is focusing on getting banks to lower their lending rates, Bank Indonesia (BI) Governor Perry Warjiyo said in a virtual seminar on Friday.
By Reuters Staff
(Adds details on fees, statement from the bank, and background)
TOKYO, Jan 22 (Reuters) - The banking unit of Japan’s Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc said on Friday it would introduce maintenance fees on dormant accounts from July, in a fee system overhaul to ride out the impact of profit decline.
MUFG Bank, the country’s largest lender, said in a statement it will charge an annual fee of 1,320 yen ($12.74), including tax for new accounts in which transactions have not been made for two years since they are opened.
The move comes as Japanese banks have been grappling with years of low-rate environment and a slowly declining domestic market, and as the COVID-19 pandemic adds to their long-term uncertainty.
British retailers struggled to recover in December from a partial coronavirus lockdown the previous month, marking a weak end to their worst year on record, while public debt has climbed to its highest since 1962, official data showed on Friday.