Argentina’s central bank said it bought US$ 50 million at an average price of 37.597 Pesos per dollar in the foreign exchange market on Tuesday, part of its effort to maintain the currency in a trading band agreed with the International Monetary Fund.
The International Monetary Fund has completed its second review of Argentina, the fund said on Monday, paving the way for the country to receive US$7.6 billion under a US$ 56.3 billion financing deal.
Argentina’s central bank said it would nearly double its currency swap deal with China, bringing the total to 130 billion Yuan (US$ 18.7 billion), as Beijing looks to expand its influence in the recession-struck country. Central Bank President Guido Sandleris, who was in China finalizing the agreement, said that the deal for 70 billion Yuan would be expanded by 60 billion Yuan, according to a bank spokesman.
Argentina’s peso slipped on Tuesday, a day after the central bank’s new governor reassured the public that its approach to taming the country’s rocky economy would be sustainable over the medium term. The peso closed 0.46% weaker at 36.65 per U.S. dollar. The currency has fallen 0.30% against the dollar this week, although it has climbed 12.63% since the beginning of the month.
The resignation of Luis Caputo to the Presidency of the Central Bank of Argentina (BCRA), which has been reflected with surprise by the international media, occurs amid the trip of the Argentine President, Mauricio Macri, to New York to attend the Assembly General of the UN and with the mission of restoring the confidence of the international market in the Argentine economy. His predecessor, Guido Sandleris, receives a Central Bank when it is about to close an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The Argentine Peso reacted strongly against the US dollar on Thursday following on an abundant private supply of greenbacks to satisfy demand, which kept the Central Bank out of the market for the first time since the beginning of the month. The dollar fell 2.8% and ended trading below 39 Pesos.
Argentina’s central bank now sees the Peso at an equilibrium level, chief Luis Caputo told market participants who attended a meeting with him on Thursday. The statement comes after two days of strengthening by the peso following a rout that sent it to a record intra-day low in late August.
Argentina's central bank kept its key interest rate on Wednesday at 60%, one of the highest in the world, following a surprise hike two weeks ago after the peso plunged. Central bank officials said in a statement that inflation accelerated in August and continues to do so September, citing high-frequency data.
Argentina’s central bank auctioned a total of US$ 200 million of its reserves in two separate currency auctions on Tuesday after the peso hit new lows, the monetary authority said in a statement.
Argentine bonds touched their lowest levels of market-friendly President Mauricio Macri's term on Tuesday, but rebounded in a volatile trading session. Meanwhile the country risk (a measure of the difference between its bond yields and those issued by other countries) rose as much as 27 points to a 33-month peak.