Fishing sector drives turnaround of Argentinian economy

Argentina's economy grew for the first time in half a year, posting a modest 0.1 per cent year-on-year expansion in November that beat expectations, official data showed on Thursday.

Analysts surveyed by Reuters had forecast a 0.6 per cent contraction in the resource-rich South American nation.

The data points to a turnaround for Argentina's battered economy, which is being slowly turned around by libertarian President Javier Milei after decades of socialist mismanagement.

The data compares with a 0.6 per cent year-on-year contraction the prior month and is the first expansion since 1.4 per cent growth in May last year, according to revised data.

Growth in November was mainly driven by the fishing sector and the financial intermediation sector, according to data from the statistics agency INDEC.

Some 10 productive sectors contracted in November, according to the data, with the construction and commodities sectors posting the largest declines.

Argentina's economic activity increased 0.9 per cent in November versus a month earlier, the second monthly increase in a row.

(Reporting by Aida Pelaez-Fernandez and Walter Bianchi; Editing by David Alire Garcia and Anthony Esposito)