MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Massa to announce new measures as Argentine peso sinks against US dollar

Massa will tell businessmen over breakfast about the measures to be published in the Official Gazette

With the informal exchange rate between the Argentine peso and the US dollar known as “blue” going up AR$ 8, and reaching a new record high of AR$ 394, Economy Minister Sergio Massa is planning a set of measures to reverse that trend. The new package is to be conveyed to businessmen and bankers over breakfast Wednesday before being announced.

The Argentine Central Bank (BCRA) sold another US$ 99 million Tuesday to keep the rate from skyrocketing but at the cost of further emptying the country's meager coffers. After the net sales of the day, the negative balance of the monetary authority for its intervention in the exchange market amounts to around US$ 1238 million so far in March. So far this year, the accumulated red balance amounts to approximately US$ 2320 million.

On the other hand, the official dollar closed with an average price of AR$ 212.24, or 39 cents higher than the day before.

Among the measures to be announced is an exchange of US$ 4 billion in bonds under foreign law held by public agencies for peso securities and the incorporation of bonds in dollars under local law, in a move to provide the Treasury and the Central Bank with instruments to act in the financial exchange market to curb its mercuriality.

The new regulations will become effective through resolutions of the Central Bank, the National Securities Commission (CNV), and the National Superintendence of Insurance, which will be published Wednesday in the Official Gazette, according to Télam.

The measure aims, on the one hand, to reduce uncertainty in the market regarding the supply of financial dollars and, on the other hand, to absorb surplus pesos that go in search of foreign exchange hedging and that, by doing so, could put pressure on inflation if this were to imply a rise in dollar quotations.