Research undertaken by ForwardKeys, the travel analytics firm, which analyses 17 million flight bookings and 7 million flight searches a day, has revealed that the recent riots in Chile have taken a tremendous toll on tourism to the country.
Argentine markets are set for another bout of nerves after the country holds a presidential election on Sunday, likely to confirm defeat for business-friendly President Mauricio Macri.
Argentina’s peso was battered on Wednesday as the central bank sold US$ 367 million of its dollar reserves in a second consecutive day of heavy intervention aimed at controlling the currency’s fall. Likewise the country risk rose 135 basis points to 2,125, its highest in 14 years, before partially recovering, according to the JP Morgan Emerging Markets Bond Index Plus.
Argentine President Mauricio Macri said that monthly inflation would accelerate to 3% in August following a slump in the peso, as the central bank intervened heavily in the market on Tuesday to prop up the local currency.
Argentina's central bank on Tuesday exceeded for the first time a guideline on reserve sales agreed as part of its US$ 57 billion standby agreement with the International Monetary Fund, selling US$ 302 million in the foreign exchange market, traders said.
Argentina's currency collapsed 30.3% to a record 65 Pesos to the US dollar while government bonds sold off steeply on Monday after the country’s market-friendly, President Mauricio Macri, performed worse than expected in Sunday primary elections.
A new IMF mission is expected in Argentina this e Wednesday for the fourth review of the country's economic plan which is supported by a 36 month stand-by credit from the multilateral financial institution. It's the first IMF visit since Argentina's Central Bank major strategy change in the foreign exchange market to avoid another meltdown of the Argentine currency.
Argentina’s embattled peso gained strength on Monday after the central bank said it would ease limits on its foreign exchange market interventions, signaling its willingness to sell reserves in an effort to better control the volatility of the local currency. The peso began the session up 3.37% and closed 3.56% stronger at 44.37 per U.S. dollar.
Argentina’s peso fell back on Friday afternoon to post a record low close, giving up earlier gains after a tumultuous week that saw the currency battered to its weakest ever level and local debt pummeled as anxious investors fled.
Latin American stocks were flat on Monday, partly subdued by delays in important pension reform in Brazil, while currencies in the region rose against a weak dollar but Argentina's peso hovered around record-low levels on political uncertainty and the highest country risk so far this year.