The Argentine Republic is located
at the southernmost part of the American Continent.
Its name comes from the Latin argentum which means
silver. The Spanish settlers called it “silver
land”. This large area covering almost 3 million
km2 became a real paradise for hundreds of thousands
of post-war Europeans immigrants tempted by the
richness of this vast land.
Argentina, formerly called "the granary of
the world” in the 50s, is a young and dynamic
country today, with a stable economy and the lowest
inflation rates in the continent. This is why it
takes part and leads the strategic trade alliance
of the neighbouring countries called Mercosur.
Buenos Aires, the capital city, is set up on the
margin of Rio de la Plata and stands as one of the
largest urban centres in the world. Because of its
cosmopolitan characteristics and its architectural
and landscape richness, it is called “the
New World Paris”. Argentina. A country as
large as its people’s warmth. The country
of Borges and Sábato, of Quinquela Martín
and Fader, of tango and polo, of Maradona and Fangio…
of the “gauchos" in the large “pampas”.
A country with 36.260.130 inhabitants
making their way to become one of the major production
centres in the planet.
As from the second quarter of the year 2002, Argentina
began to recover from the crisis, registering a
steady growth rate in the following nine quarters.
This recovery was moved ahead by the different sectors
that gave a boost to the GDP.
Since April 2002, the political, financial and fiscal
strength lead to price stability. The fastest recovery
during that year was driven by textile industry
and metal-mechanic sector, with an investment recovery
index which caused an optimistic reaction on the
consumers.
The rate of industrial productivity growth was
35.4 % between the first quarter of 2002 and the
third quarter of 2004, which means an annual growth
rate of 12.9%. The currency depreciation produced
important surplus balances in the trade balance,
due to imports substitutions which sustain a firm
reaction as a consequence of activity levels improvement.
In 2002, conditions were created in order to make
a more realistic exchange rate prevail over the
one applied during convertibility period.
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