Argentina's president announces new austerity measures

Screen grab from an Argentine government video showing President Mauricio Macri delivering a nationally televised message to announce austerity measures, including the elimination of some government ministries and imposition of new taxes on exports to reduce budget deficits and stabilize the economy

Argentina's president Mauricio Macri on Monday announced he was slashing his government's bureaucracy in half and restoring taxes on grain exporters as part of sweeping new austerity measures to stabilize the economy.

The center-right president admitted in a speech to the nation that Argentina was facing "an emergency," after its currency, the peso, lost more than half its dollar value this year.