Moodys warns of risks for investees

"The eventual gradual economic recovery of Argentina through 2020 will moderately promote the growth of revenues and margins of consumer businesses"he claimed Martina Gallardo Barreyro, Assistant to Moody's Vice Presidency for the region. "However, the consumer goods sector remains vulnerable to monetary shocks that can instantly destroy purchasing power and demand", added the specialist.

For Moody's, the forecast of near record crop production implies improved growth and profitability of the agricultural sector, but the government's fiscal consolidation efforts increase the sector's vulnerability to changes sudden changes in fiscal policy. Argentina's telecommunications sector will remain highly competitive in 2019 and the following years as companies begin to develop their telecommunication and converged data services.

However, operating margins are expected to shrink in 2019 as telecom companies will struggle to raise prices in line with inflation. Moody's has estimated that the core business of Argentina's oil and gas sector would remain strong, particularly for the oil sector, although sudden regulatory changes and political uncertainty would increase the sector's operational risk. Electricity generation will support demand for natural gas, but current bottlenecks in the transportation sector are limiting production growth at Vaca Muerta, and Argentina will continue to import in the next few years.

On the other hand, the country's weak economic activity, government consolidation efforts and corruption investigations will continue to weigh heavily on public and private construction spending, and the fundamentals of the housing construction sector will remain also fundamental. low until the middle or the end of 2020, according to estimates of the agency.