Weekly Report - 11 January 2018 (WR-18-01)

ARGENTINA | Budget. On 28 December 2017 Argentina’s congress approved a draft 2018 national budget for Ar$2.72trn (US$145.5bn), a 1.5% increase compared with the 2017 budget. The draft budget plan seeks to increase government spending by 15.1% compared with 2017 but at the same time reduce the primary fiscal deficit from the 4.5% posted last year to 3.2% by stimulating increased domestic economic growth and private sector investment.