MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina begins IMF approved daily auction of US$ 60m to recover Pesos

The central bank held two auctions of US$ 30 million each. The first fetched an average price of 41.55 pesos per greenback. The second, 41.65 pesos to the dollar

Argentina sold US$ 60 million in the foreign exchange market on Monday, traders said, marking the start of peso-buying program approved by the International Monetary Fund and aimed at bolstering government finances.

The central bank held two auctions of US$ 30 million each. The first fetched an average price of 41.55 pesos per greenback. The second came out at an average 41.65 pesos to the dollar.

Under a standby financing deal with the IMF, Argentina’s treasury will sell US$ 60 million per day up to US$ 9.6 billion by way of the central bank to fund government operations.

“The objective of these auctions is to provide pesos needed for government spending denominated in local currency,” the treasury said in a statement.

In 2018 Argentina signed a US$ 56.3 billion IMF finance deal intended to stabilize the peso and help pull the country out of recession. The IMF this month ratified its third review of Argentina’s economy under the deal, unlocking a roughly US$ 10.8 billion disbursement of funds.