MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Social upheaval torn Chile to sell up to US$ 20 billion to support the Peso

“The events that have occurred in our country in recent weeks have affected the normal functioning of the economy,” the bank's statement said.

Chile's central bank might sell up to US$20 billion in foreign currency interventions starting on Monday in a bid to stabilize the local currency, the monetary authority said in a statement on Thursday after the peso hit a new all-time low.

The intervention programme is to last through May 29, 2020, the statement said. Chile's peso plummeted to a new low for the second day in a row at market close on Thursday following more than a month of protests over inequality that turned increasingly violent again this week.

“The events that have occurred in our country in recent weeks have affected the normal functioning of the economy,” the bank's statement said.

The programme will consist of a possible US$10 billion in dollar sales on the spot foreign exchange market and up to another US$10 billion in sales of “exchange hedging instruments”.