Trapped and Jobless, Gaza Youths Look for a Way Out

Wednesday, 22 March, 2023 - 

Palestinian fisherman Jihad al-Hissi and his sons work in their boat at the seaport in Gaza City on January 10, 2023. (AFP)

Asharq Al-Awsat

Sabreen Abu Jazar was only hours from completing the perilous journey from Gaza to meet her husband in Europe last month when her migrant boat flipped and sank 100 meters from the Greek coast. Her body was finally returned home this week.

"She phoned me just before travelling and asked me to pray for her," said her mother, sitting in a mourning tent in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

After leaving Gaza in February, via Egypt, Sabreen flew to Türkiye where she met her husband, who had migrated to Belgium years ago. They had planned to meet again in Greece, where he had promised a honeymoon, but Sabreen never arrived. Three other brides were on the boat.

On Tuesday, around three weeks after her death, Abu Jazar's body was brought home for burial in her town of Rafah.

"I celebrated her as a bride, now she's returned to me in a coffin," said her mother-in-law Buthayna Abu Jazar. "A wedding turned into mourning."

A rising number of Palestinians are making the perilous crossing to Europe, driven to escape repeated wars and the Israeli blockade that has left Gaza cut off since the Hamas movement assumed power in 2007.

UN figures show more than 2,700 Palestinians arrived in Greece by sea in 2022, making up 22% of total boat arrivals, the highest of any national group. European Union data from last year also shows a sharp rise in asylum applications by Palestinians in Greece, the main point of entry to Europe.

Not all reach their destination. According to the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, more than 378 people have died or gone missing while attempting to migrate from Gaza since 2014. Three have died so far in 2023.

"Sabreen lived her 24 years amid a blockade and a bitter economic situation, and like any girl or a young man she quit Gaza hoping for freedom and a better situation," her uncle Alaa Abu Jazar said.

Political factions

Jobs in Gaza are scarce, for college graduates as well as others, and when a position arises, it often goes to someone with a connection to political factions.

Underlying the crisis is a 16-year-old Israeli-led blockade on Gaza, home to 2.3 million people, coupled with internal political divisions that have weakened Palestinians' political aspirations for statehood.

Ahmed Al-Deek, an official of the Palestinian Foreign Ministry, urged Palestinians from Gaza and refugee camps in Arab countries to shun illegal trips but said the Israeli blockade was the prime reason for Gaza youth leaving for a better future abroad.

Deek also blamed the continued internal divisions between Fatah and Hamas and urged "all officials in Gaza Strip to shoulder their responsibilities and resolve the problem of youth and offer them dignified life."

Gazans say they are ruled by three governments: the Palestinian Authority of President Mahmoud Abbas, who has limited self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and which employs thousands of people in Gaza, Hamas, and Israel, the third entity that controls its de facto border.

Mohammad Kuhail, 26, a physiotherapy graduate, tried for six years to find a job in institutions run by Hamas, the United Nations or those affiliated with Abbas's Fatah movement.

"If I were from Hamas, they would have hired me," the 26-year-old said. "Fatah is the same, Fatah cares about Fatah people," said Kuhail, who whiles away his time in cheap cafes with other unemployed friends.

Six of his siblings are graduates, two of them engineers, and none of them has ever got a job, he said, leaving the family dependent on his father, a school guard.


Few jobs


According to Palestinian and United Nations estimates, youth unemployment in Gaza runs at about 70%, a figure which makes dreams of building any kind of future out of reach for most young people.

For its part, Hamas puts the blame for the dire economic situation on the shoulders of Israel, which has fought repeated wars with the movement while maintaining its blockade of the enclave.

"Our problem is the occupation and isn't an internal problem," Ehab Al-Ghsain, Hamas-appointed deputy of the Gaza Labor Ministry, told Reuters.

As part of its policy of ensuring a basic level of economic stability in Gaza, Israel offers some 20,000 permits to allow Gazans to work in Israel but, within Gaza, Hamas has struggled to provide work for more than a select few.

In 2022, Al-Ghsain's office created temporary jobs for 9,000 young people, a fraction of the 236,000 looking for work, he said. Even the 40,000 public servants it has hired in Gaza since 2007 have not received their full salaries.

In the heart of Gaza City, Saeed Lulu, a media graduate stands selling hot drinks to passersby and taxi drivers at a stall he calls "The Graduates Stall". He is the only breadwinner for a family of six.

"I graduated 16 years ago and so far, I have failed to find a job," he said.

In that, he is little different from other graduates. Maher Al-Tabbaa, a Gaza economic analyst, said fewer than 10% of around 14,000 students who graduate every year get jobs.

Standing outside Lulu's cafe, Majd Al-Jamal, 20, a college undergraduate, wondered whether she should complete her studies after seeing three of her siblings failing for years to find a job.

"I don't have much enthusiasm," she said. "We already know what is going to happen." 

Thu, March 23, 2023 

STORY: Sabreen Abu Jazar was hours from finishing the perilous journey from Gaza to Europe last month, when the migrant boat she was on overturned just off the Greek coast.

Sabreen was travelling - via Turkey - to meet her husband in Greece.

They were newly weds, and she was following him to Europe to build a life together.

She returned to Gaza in a coffin on Tuesday (March 21).

Her mother Suha's joy has turned to grief.

"I called her, by chance, and she raised her hands to the sky, like this, and said: "Pray for me mother, just pray for me." I did not know she was packed and ready to go. She said: "Goodbye, I am going away, I am travelling. I am leaving."

Sabreen was one of a rising number of people risking the migrant journey from Gaza to escape repeated wars and a punishing Israeli and Egyptian blockade.

Three other brides were on the same boat.

In the heart of Gaza City, Saeed Lulu, a media graduate, owns "The Graduate's stall" - serving drinks to passersby.

He is the only breadwinner for a family of six.

Jobs in Gaza are scarce. When one does arise, a degree don't always help but political connections do.

"We are lost, Mahmoud Abbas is the current (Palestinian) president and Hamas rules here, but neither Abbas nor Hamas are providing us with anything. On the contrary, the youth today are migrating because there are no opportunities for employment or hope. Our present is not clear, we are not able to see it."

According to the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, since 2014, at least 378 people have died or gone missing attempting to migrate from Gaza.

Three have died so far this year.

Lebanese security forces fire tear gas at crowds protesting pound devaluation

Our kids are hungry. We’re hungry, 59-year-old who served in army for 32 years says

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Published:  March 22, 2023 Reuters

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Protesters shove a section of the security fence outside the government palace headquarters in the centre of Beirut on March 22, 2023 during a demonstration by retired Lebanese army and security forces veterans demanding inflation-adjustments to their pensions.Image Credit: AFP

BEIRUT: Lebanese security forces on Wednesday fired tear gas at hundreds of protesters, mostly retired members of the security forces, who had gathered near government buildings in Beirut in anger at deteriorating economic conditions.

Crowds gathered in the streets of downtown Beirut between parliament and the government serail, carrying Lebanon’s tricolour or flags bearing the logos of security forces.

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They were outraged at the deteriorating value of state pensions paid in the local currency. The pound has lost more than 98 per cent of its value against the US dollar since 2019.

“Our kids are hungry. We’re hungry,” said Mohamad Al Khateeb, a 59-year-old who had served in the army for 32 years.

“We left the army with nothing. No healthcare, no welfare, our kids are out of school and prices are rising obscenely. What do you expect?” Khateeb told Reuters.

Some of the men tried to cross one of the checkpoints leading to a government building, prompting security forces to fire tear gas to keep them back, according to a Reuters witness.

Lebanese special forces soldiers remove their comrade who fainted from the tear gas during the protest,Image Credit: AP

Protesters dashed away from white clouds emanating from locations around the serail. One soldier was seen treating a young boy who was affected by the tear gas.

“If he fires on us, he’s firing on our rights and on his rights at the same time,” said army veteran Ahmad Mustafa, 60.

“He’s suffering just like me,” he told Reuters, clutching two of the tear gas canisters fired just moments earlier.

There was no immediate statement from the Lebanese army.

Lebanon’s economic meltdown began in 2019 after decades of profligate spending and alleged corruption. Its onset prompted the most wide-ranging protests the country had seen in years, but they fizzled out and rallies have been sporadic since.

The country’s top financial and political leaders have allowed the crisis to fester, with the Lebanese pound hitting an all-time low of 140,000 to the US dollar on Tuesday before an intervention by the country’s central bank.

Lebanon’s army troops and members of the security forces are receiving salary support in US dollars from the United States and Qatar for the first time.

Astronomers must fight ‘tooth and nail’ to protect dark skies, study says

March 23, 2023

Less than a month after astronomers found satellite trails scarring many images snapped by the Hubble Space Telescope, a new paper is urging scientists to “fight tooth and nail” to protect the night sky against rising light pollution.

“We are very pessimistic about the path being followed by an important part of the scientific community (and other actors) that works on and has responsibilities for these areas of research,” the authors wrote in the paper (opens in new tab), which was published Monday (March 20) in the journal Nature Astronomy. 

The new paper, a comment article, argues that current efforts by astronomers are mitigating the problem of light pollution in astronomy but will not solve it unless strict and immediate regulations are enforced.

Related: Challenge for astronomy: Megaconstellations becoming the new light pollution

Light pollution caused by artificial urban lighting on Earth, as well as satellites congesting low Earth orbit, has been hampering astronomical observations since at least 1957 (opens in new tab). For over six decades, astronomers have repeatedly voiced concerns that the observations made by ground-based telescopes, which are the workhorses of space science, have become increasingly damaged. 

Much of the blame is placed on light-emitting diodes (LEDs), which were once thought to be an efficient solution to save energy and money because they focus light on a specific area, but were soon revealed to actually worsen light pollution (opens in new tab). For example, an LED lamp post with a lifespan of 100,000 hours will last for 24 years — four times longer than sodium lamps that were previously dominant, according to the latest paper. 

To get as far as possible from urban lighting, scientists have built observatories in remote areas not yet suffering from high light pollution. However, Earth has only so many such locations, and “there are almost no more remote places available on Earth that simultaneously meet all the characteristics needed to install an observatory,” according to the article.

Space telescopes in low Earth orbit face a similar problem. Earlier this month, a team of citizen scientists found that over 5% of recent Hubble Space Telescope images were streaked by SpaceX’s Starlink satellites. Starlink is the company’s broadband megaconstellation, which consists of more than 3,700 operational satellites at the moment — and that number is growing all the time. In addition, other companies, such as Amazon, plan to build megaconstellations of their own in the near future.

Astronomers have been vocal about the impact of light pollution on astronomy ever since artificial satellites became more than a minor nuisance for competitive and expensive telescope observations. When SpaceX launched its first batch of Starlink satellites, amateur and professional astronomers alike were quick to point out the surprising brightness of the satellites, whose bodies and solar panels can reflect sunlight and become bright enough to be seen even by the unaided eye. Over the years, astronomers have closed the shutters of telescopes when satellites drift into view and sometimes pointed them toward rare pockets of the sky lacking satellites. 

Earlier this year, the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and SpaceX agreed to reduce satellite interference on radio astronomy. Such agreements, however, are merely mitigation strategies that would ultimately not solve the problem, according to the comment article. The authors call on the scientific community to do more and demand stricter regulation, stating that any hopes for the space economy to limit itself unless forced to do so is “naive to hope.”

Instead, the authors propose tightening the criteria to authorize massive satellite constellations and enforcing an upper limit for the number of orbiting satellites and the amount of artificial light produced. When the limit is reached, regulatory standards such as deorbiting old satellites before allowing new ones into orbit must be enacted, the authors say. “Despite the popularity of satellite megaconstellations, we must not reject the possibility of banning them,” as the risks to the night sky are too high, according to the paper.

The authors place the responsibility of advocating for such regulations on the shoulders of scientists, who are in “an optimum position,” thanks to active personal and professional collaborations across the world.

“Now is the time to consider the prohibition of megaconstellations and to promote a significant reduction in [artificial light at night],” the authors say. “Our world definitely needs a ‘new deal’ for the night.”

Follow Sharmila Kuthunur on Twitter @Sharmilakg (opens in new tab). Follow us @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab), or on Facebook (opens in new tab) and Instagram (opens in new tab).

 UAE’s 1st long-duration astronaut marks the start of Ramadan in space

March 23, 2023

The first Emirati astronaut in space will witness the beginning of Ramadan with the arrival of the new moon as soon as tonight (March 22).

Astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi arrived in space on March 2 after launching into orbit aboard a SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket in a Crew Dragon spacecraft. He is working aboard the International Space Station for the next half-year on the first-ever long duration mission flown by a United Arab Emirates (UAE) astronaut.

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar and in 2023 will last from roughly March 22 to April 23, depending on local sightings of the crescent moon. The Islamic calendar follows the moon, meaning that the dates change yearly in relation to the Gregorian calendar that most of the world uses. 

While most adult Muslims must fast from dawn to sunset as one of the five Pillars of Islam, Al Neyadi may not participate for operational reasons.

“We’re actually allowed to eat sufficient food and to prevent any escalation of lack of food or nutrition or hydration,” Al Neyadi said of Muslim travelers during a pre-flight press conference on Jan. 25.

He added that his priority will be serving the mission, as he cannot do activities “that can jeopardize the mission or maybe put the crewmember in a risk.” 

Al Neyadi is not the first astronaut to mark Ramadan in space; the first-ever Muslim to go to space (opens in new tab), Prince Sultan bin Salman Al-Saud of Saudi Arabia, arrived towards the end of the holy month on June 17, 1985, on the weeklong space shuttle mission STS-51G. 

The Emirati astronaut is scheduled to perform 19 dedicated experiments on topics like back pain, plant biology, cardiovascular health, material science, radiation, sleep, and fluids, according to an overview (opens in new tab) provided by the Mohammad Bin Rashid Space Centre that manages the UAE astronaut program. Two outreach experiments with students are also planned to look at dental or oral cells in space, along with blood flow.

In his first press conference from space on March 6, Al Neyadi said he is still adjusting to floating around in space, but enjoying the process. “I’m still coping, I’m still learning, but hopefully I will enhance my skills in the coming days.”

Elizabeth Howell is the co-author of “Why Am I Taller ?” (ECW Press, 2022; with Canadian astronaut Dave Williams), a book about space medicine. 

Follow her on Twitter @howellspace 

 Stunning Hubble photo reveals star-studded M55 cluster

March 23, 2023

A distant cluster sparkles with ancient stars in a gorgeous new image from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope.

The dazzling Hubble photo shows just a pocket of Messier 55 (M55), a globular cluster in the constellation Sagittarius (The Archer) that harbors about 100,000 stars. Astronomers say some of these stars, especially in M55’s center, twinkle with changing brightness. 

The combined gravity of M55’s stars pulls the cluster into a spherical shape, a common trait shared by more than 150 such objects that occupy the Milky Way galaxy.

Related: The best Hubble Space Telescope images of all time!

The combined gravity of M55’s stars pulls the cluster into a spherical shape, a common trait shared by more than 150 such objects that occupy the Milky Way galaxy.

Astronomers know little about the elusive M55 itself, which is about 17,000 light-years from Earth. The cluster is 100 light-years in diameter and spans about two-thirds the width of a full moon as seen from Earth. M55 is relatively bright, but for observers in the Northern Hemisphere, Earth’s atmosphere obscures the cluster, so its stars are tough to spot.

“While Messier 55 is large and reasonably bright, it is lacking a dense core and many of its stars are quite faint, making it hard to observe in non-optimal conditions,” NASA representatives wrote in an image description (opens in new tab) published on Friday (March 17).

When the French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille discovered  M55 in 1752, he noted that the cluster “resembles an obscure nucleus of a big comet.” Soon, the hunt was taken up by Charles Messier, a French astronomer and the publisher of the famous Messier catalog of 110 deep-sky objects — one of which is M55. 

It took Messier 26 years to find the cluster, and when he finally spotted it in 1778 from his observatory in Paris, he described it as “a nebula which is a whitish spot, of about 6′ extension, its light is even and does not appear to contain any star.”

The Hubble Space Telescope, however, faces none of the challenges that those Earth-based observers did. The observatory has a splendid seat from its orbit above Earth’s atmosphere to snap the clearest views of M55, and can even resolve its individual stars. 

The telescope, which launched to Earth orbit in 1990 and is still going strong, has clicked sparkling pictures of at least 93 of the 110 Messier objects to date.

Follow Sharmila Kuthunur on Twitter @Sharmilakg  

Follow us @Spacedotcom 

 Space dust could carry alien life across the galaxy

March 23, 2023

Astrobiologists should examine space dust and other exoplanetary debris to search for the existence of life beyond Earth, a new study suggests.

Up to 100,000 pieces of life-carrying dust particles could be making their way to Earth every year, according to the study, which was authored by Tomonori Totani, an astronomy professor at the University of Tokyo. 

When a big asteroid slams into a planet, the impact can have cosmic repercussions — just ask the dinosaurs. (Or don’t; they’re extinct, killed off by a space rock that hit Earth 66 million years ago.) These cataclysmic collisions can create hemisphere-size craters and spread debris across entire planets and out into interstellar space. 

Related: The search for alien life (reference)

This piece of interplanetary dust is thought to be part of the early solar system and was found in Earth’s atmosphere, demonstrating lightweight particles could survive atmospheric entry as they do not generate much heat from friction. (Image credit: NASA)

In the new paper (opens in new tab), which was published online Wednesday (March 22) in the International Journal of Astrobiology, Totani argues that the debris ejected into space from a large enough impact on a life-inhabited planet could carry evidence of that life out into space with it.

Theoretically, fossilized microorganisms or other indications of life could be preserved on planetary ejecta as they careen away from their home planet, pending their survival through the harsh environment of outer space. Some of these debris particles could find their way to the surfaces of other life-sustaining planets, like Earth, where they could potentially establish a foothold — or, perhaps, be studied for evidence of alien life. 

This idea is similar in some respects to the panspermia hypothesis, which presumes life is ubiquitous and is proliferated throughout the galaxy from one planetary body to another. Totani cites this near the beginning of his paper, alongside the observation that Mars meteorites have been found here on Earth. “My paper explores this idea using available data on the different aspects of this scenario,” Totani said in a press release (opens in new tab). 

Not all debris from an exoplanet can be ejected with enough velocity that it not only escapes the gravity of its planet but also that planet’s host star; rather, escapees must be tiny. Totani calculates that fragments around one micrometer (one one-thousandth of a millimeter) wide would be big enough to host something like a single-celled organism, and small enough to reach interstellar speeds. 

“The distances and times involved can be vast, and both reduce the chance any ejecta containing life signs from another world could even reach us,” Totani said. “Add to that the number of phenomena in space that can destroy small objects due to heat or radiation, and the chances get even lower.” 

Despite the odds, however, Totani’s calculations show that up to 100,000 such pieces of space dust might possibly land on Earth each year, and may be present and well-preserved within Antarctic ice or on the seafloor. 

Those specimens may be relatively easy to recover, compared to space dust with evidence of microbial life still floating around in space. But that latter scenario isn’t impossible either. 

“Discerning extrasolar material from material originating in our own solar system is still a complex matter,” the press release states, but also points out that aerogel technologies that capture space dust exist today. 

Both the paper and the press release conclude with Totani urging scientists in adjacent fields to pick up this research and explore the possibilities it may add to the search for life outside our solar system. 

 Perseverance rover captures drifting predawn clouds on Mars (photo)

March 23, 2023

At least one interplanetary weather report dropped on World Meteorological Day.

NASA’s Perseverance rover imaged drifting predawn clouds on the Red Planet recently, taking a brief break from its ongoing search for signs of ancient Mars life. Mars is a dry and dusty planet, but billions of years ago water likely pooled and flowed in many areas on its surface, providing a potential life-friendly spot for microbes.

The new cloud images, released by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory today (March 23), were taken with one of the rover’s navigation cameras just before Martian sunrise on March 18. That was the 738th Martian day, or sol, of Perseverance’s mission; a sol is just a little longer (24 hours, 37 minutes) than a day on Earth.

Related: How NASA will launch Mars samples off the Red Planet

The brief NASA release describing the clouds had no further information about what exactly is being studied. 

Last year, however, NASA initiated a citizen science project probing Martian clouds, which are made up of carbon dioxide, also known as dry ice. Studying the clouds provides a window into conditions in the planet’s middle atmosphere, at roughly 30 to 50 miles (50 to 80 kilometers) in altitude, officials said at the time.

Perseverance recently arrived at a new area nicknamed “Berea,” where it is just about to further scrutinize an intriguing layered rock, mission officials tweeted yesterday  (March 22). More generally, Perseverance and a little helicopter called Ingenuity are exploring an ancient river delta in Jezero Crater that may have hosted ancient life. Ingenuity will likely reach 50 flights, 10 times its original manifest, in the coming days or weeks.

Related: Fly over Perseverance rover’s Mars stomping grounds in new video

Perseverance is also gathering samples for future return to Earth, a campaign that’s a joint effort of NASA and the European Space Agency. That campaign’s formulation is still being determined, however. The baseline plan released last year called for Perseverance to carry its samples over to a rocket-toting lander, which is scheduled to launch toward Mars in 2028.  If the rover is unable to do that, two small helicopters aboard the lander will pick up the lightsaber-shaped sample tubes that Perseverance has placed on the surface as a backup plan.

But now NASA’s Science Mission Directorate is considering changes to reduce the cost, such as having only a single helicopter fly aboard the lander in 2028, according to a livestreamed town hall meeting held earlier today that addressed NASA fiscal 2024 budget negotiations that are ongoing.

On our own planet, World Meteorological Day is celebrated annually on March 23 to commemorate the founding of the World Meteorological Organization on that day in 1950. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recently warned once again of dire consequences if humans ignore the perils of global warming.

Elizabeth Howell is the co-author of “Why Am I Taller ?” (ECW Press, 2022; with Canadian astronaut Dave Williams), a book about space medicine. Follow her on Twitter @howellspace  Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom

Saudi, UAE investors plan to invest in SpaceX - The Information

SpaceX logo and Elon Musk photo are seen in this illustration taken, 

December 19, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

23 Mar 2023 

:A unit of Saudi Arabia's investment fund and an Abu Dhabi-based company are planning to invest in a multi-billion dollar funding round for Elon Musk-led SpaceX, The Information reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the discussions.

The funding round is expected to value the rocket maker at about $140 billion, the report added.

SpaceX raised $2 billion in 2022 and $2.6 billion in 2020, according to venture capital firm Space Capital.

The company and Morgan Stanley's representatives have told investors that Saudi Arabia's Water and Electricity Holding Company, part of the country's sovereign wealth fund, and United Arab Emirates' Alpha Dhabi are part of the funding round, according to the report.


SpaceX, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and Alpha Dhabi did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Source: Reuters

Oil Spills and Near Misses: More Ghost Tankers Ship Sanctioned Fuel - Latest Tweet by Reuters

 Team Latestly| Mar 23, 2023 

Argentina Orders Public Sector to Give up Dollar Bonds in Debt Shake-Up

By Reuters
March 23, 2023

 A customer pays for pork meat in a local market, as Argentina's annual inflation rate tore past 100% in February, the country's statistics agency said on Tuesday, the first time it has hit triple figures since a period of hyperinflation in 1991, over three decades ago, in Buenos Aires, Argentina March 14, 2023. 

REUTERS/Agustin Marcarian/File PhotoREUTERS

By Eliana Raszewski

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentina ordered public sector bodies on Thursday to sell or exchange their holdings of 11 sovereign dollar bonds in a bid to reorganize its debt as inflation soared above 100% and its foreign reserves dropped.

A presidential decree in Argentina's official gazette said public sector bodies would have to sell or auction five local law dollar bonds maturing between 2029 and 2041, and to swap six foreign law dollar bonds for peso debt.

The order makes official plans announced earlier in the week, which had dragged down the value of Argentina's sovereign bonds. These are already in distressed debt territory after a ninth sovereign default and a major debt restructuring in 2020.

Sovereign bond prices edged down further on Thursday, with some of the affected bonds dropping as much as 5%. Some analysts warned the measures could bring short-term gain for the government, but mean losses for state bodies longer-term.

"This swap is the same as sweeping the garbage under the rug," economist Martín Redrado, a former central bank chief, said in televised comments.

Argentina, which has long struggled with debt crises and has a $44 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) program, is racing to shore up state coffers that have been hit by drought impacting grains sales and high global prices.

The government said its aim was to reduce exchange rate volatility, which has seen a huge gap open between the official peso-dollar exchange rate and parallel foreign exchange markets, and to absorb a surplus of pesos that worsens inflation.

"These measures will make it possible to have greater availability of instruments to stabilize the markets if necessary, absorb possible monetary surpluses and to continue fighting inflation," the government said in the decree.

The IMF said it was assessing the measures, though cautioned that while "prudent debt management" was needed, it should not be done in way that would "add to vulnerabilities down the road."

Public sector bodies will have to sell the local law dollar bonds and exchange foreign law dollar bonds maturing between 2029 and 2046 for debt payable in pesos issued by the Treasury.

The new bond would have maturity up to 13 years and be denominated in dollars but paid in pesos.

It would accrue interest on the capital adjusted for inflation at a rate of 3%, or alternatively on the capital denominated in U.S. dollars converted to pesos at the exchange rate just before the date of payment plus a 3% annual coupon.

Some analysts criticized the move, saying it would hurt the so-called Sustainability Guarantee Fund (FGS) of the pension system, though officials moved to address those fears.

An economy ministry official, declining to be named, said the FGS would get 30% of the proceeds from selling the local law bonds as well as the new bond in exchange for the foreign law debt that would be adjusted for inflation and devaluation.

"(It) gives the FGS greater stability and security, since it is not a volatile bond," the official said, adding that the planned new debt instrument was "a low-risk bond, since it has a very low probability of being defaulted."

(Reporting by Eliana Raszewski; Additional reporting by Jorge Otaola; Editing by Adam Jourdan and Alexander Smith)