ARGENTINA — Argentina has announced new austerity measures in a bid to stem its current currency crisis.<br /><br />This comes ahead of receiving a $50 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund. <br /><br />In a televised address, President Mauricio Macri said the country could no longer keep spending more than it earned.<br /><br />Argentina will slash spending and raise export taxes in order to tackle its budget deficit, The Guardian reports.<br />The president announced taxes on grain exports and other products and said the nation will abolish about half of the government's ministries. <br /><br />The administration did not say which ministries would be closed or merged, the BBC reports.<br />Argentina is the largest exporter of soy meal and soy oil and is also a major producer of corn, wheat and raw soybeans.<br /><br />Starting on January 1, those exports will be taxed four pesos for every dollar in value, while processed products will be taxed three pesos for every dollar in value. <br /><br />The export taxes will be lifted once the economy has stabilized. <br />Argentina's goal is to achieve a budget surplus of 1 percent of GDP by 2020.
