Virus deepens Argentina's economic crisis as poverty soars

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — As they wait out quarantine in a cramped, windowless room, Natividad Benítez brings her six children all of their meals from the soup kitchen where she earns $133 a month, barely enough to cover her rent and a few extra monthly costs.

Since the new coronavirus came to Argentina, the priest who employs her, the Rev. Juan Isasmendi, has gone from serving 350 meals a day to 7,000, feeding residents of a poor Buenos Aires neighborhood where economic activity has all but stopped due to strict anti-virus measures.

“Without his help I don’t know what would become of me,’’ she said. “It’s impossible to go looking for work in this situation of isolation.’’

The percentage of Argentines in poverty is expected to reach as high as 45% this year as the COVID-19 pandemic worsens an already grave economic crisis. The twin crises are presenting a grueling challenge to President Alberto Fernández, whose Peronist party was founded in the 1940s partly on the promise of caring for Argentina’s poor.

Even before the first case of coronavirus was diagnosed, prompting quarantines and curfews lasting more than three months, Argentina was facing 50% inflation, overwhelming debt and difficulty accessing credit in what economists call its worst crisis in two decades.

“Does anyone think I dreamed of an economy paralyzed by a quarantine?’’ he said recently. “I want a country that produces, that’s on its feet.’’

Several economists have cautioned that even after Fernández lifts anti-virus measures, it will be difficult to boost the economy back to the already weak pre-epidemic levels. Many are warning of Argentina’s worst crisis in two decades.

The World Bank foresees a 7.3% contraction in Argentina’s gross domestic product this...