(Bloomberg) -- Argentina’s economy grew faster than expected in the third quarter, technically ending an 18-month recession.
South America’s second-largest economy grew 0.9% from the April-June period, its first quarterly expansion since 2017, and faster than the 0.6% forecast by economists surveyed by Bloomberg.
Yet the country is poised to slip right back into recession, according to a central bank survey of economists who forecast quarterly contractions in the end of the year as well as in the beginning of 2020. A recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of contraction.
ARGENTINA REACT: Out of Recession, But Not Out of Crisis
The economy shrank 1.7% from a year earlier in the third quarter. It is also forecast to contract in 2020, for a third straight year.
President Alberto Fernandez, who took office Dec. 10., rolled out a series of so-called emergency measures Tuesday to increase social spending in hopes of kick starting the economy next year.
Argentina fell into recession in mid-2018 amid zigzagging economic policies, global market selloffs and a historic drought that ruined valuable crop exports. The peso has plunged nearly 70% since the start of last year, which fueled inflation now above 50% and triggered double-digit unemployment.
Amid the severe downturn, the previous government led by Mauricio Macri sought a $56 billion credit line from the International Monetary Fund that Fernandez now has to renegotiate. The IMF lifeline has been on hold until Fernandez spells out his economic policies.
©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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