Argentina's struggling economy contracted by 1.6 percent in 2023, statistics agency INDEC said on Thursday.
In December the decline was 4.5 percent compared to the same month last year and 3.1 percent compared to November, it said.
According to an INDEC report, financial services, manufacturing and wholesale and retail trade were among the hardest hit sectors.
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Argentina's struggling economy contracted by 1.6 percent in 2023, statistics agency INDEC said on Thursday.
In December the decline was 4.5 percent compared to the same month last year and 3.1 percent compared to November, it said.
According to an INDEC report, financial services, manufacturing and wholesale and retail trade were among the hardest hit sectors.
Argentina was hit by a severe drought in 2023, damaging its agricultural export industry and shaving 3.0 percentage points from GDP, according to official figures.
Last month, the International Monetary Fund – to which Argentina owes $44 billion – revised its forecast downward, expecting a 2.8 percent decline in 2024.
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The ultra-liberal new president Javier Milei was elected on a promise to cut government spending.
Since taking office in December, he has devalued the peso by more than 50 percent, cut tens of thousands of public jobs and halved the size of the government.
In January, Argentina reported its first monthly budget surplus in 12 years while boosting the country's meager foreign exchange reserves from $21 billion to $27 billion.
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The annual inflation rate has reached 254 percent.
On Thursday, IMF Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath held what she called an “excellent and substantive meeting” with Milei on “how best to move the country forward” during a two-day visit to the country.
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