Argentina has asked oil and gas companies to finance their import needs abroad as the country faces a foreign exchange crunch because of surging inflation and a sagging domestic currency. President Alberto Fernandez's government has asked some of the largest oil and gas firms operating in the country, including Axion, Raizen, Trafigura and state-owned YPF, to use international banks or parent companies instead of the domestic foreign exchange market to finance imports for the next three months. The government hopes that will take some pressure off the central bank as foreign reserves dwindle. Argentina's inflation ... (full story)