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.
Argentina's former president Cristina Kirchner was charged in yet another corruption investigation on Monday, in this case over the fraudulent import of liquid gas. Judge Claudio Bonadio, who Cristina Kirchner accuses of political persecution, requested that the ex-president be placed in pre-trial detention, but her partial immunity as a senator shields her from imprisonment.
The Argentine Peso plummeted 15.6% to a new record on Thursday, and ended trading at 39.87 after having reached almost 42 Pesos to the US dollar in mid afternoon. This follows on the Wednesday which also witnessed the Argentine currency slide 7% to the greenback.
The US dollar in Buenos Aires reached on Tuesday 10 Argentine Pesos (buying price) and 10.05 pesos (selling price) in the informal market, 15 cents higher compared to its last closing price, pushed by the tourist sector, and as the government crackdown on the so called city “exchange caves” eased up.
Despite the pope is Argentine and on Monday he will be making his first pastoral trip overseas to Brazil, Argentine government strict currency controls are making it difficult for prospective pilgrims to travel. An estimated 60.000 Argentines are expected to travel to Rio do Janeiro for the grand event.
Following on the climbing tendency since the beginning of the year, the ‘blue’ or ‘parallel’ US dollar traded in Buenos Aires at 7.25 Argentine Pesos with a 46% gap over the ‘official’ dollar that remained relatively stable at 4.95 Pesos.
The Argentine central bank confirmed on Wednesday that there is no money exchange restrictions for the federal government or provinces to purchase US dollars to honour public debt issued offshore.
Following the official new curbs on US dollar purchasing for savers, the head of the Argentine Central Bank Mercedes Marcó del Pont came on stage to defend the measure and anticipate that operations in the real estate market will have to be done in Argentine Pesos.
A former Argentine central bank president warned that if the economy follows on the current course, a “de facto devaluation” is round the corner because of the growing gap between the official and parallel exchange rates for the US dollar.
The US dollar in Argentina’s parallel market soared on Tuesday as strong unsatisfied demand moved to the so called ‘blue’ market as a result of the increasing controls for the purchase of the greenback.