After an intervention by the Central Bank of Paraguay (BCP) deemed as timely in Asunción's financial circles last week, the local currency appreciated against the US dollar and fell further away from the psychological ₲ 8,000 barrier. The BCP pledged to further inject at least US$ 15 million daily into the market, to stabilize the local currency. The dollar went up 9% against the guarani in 2024, largely driven by demand for the dollar in the international market and by local exchange needs.
Given the seemingly unstoppable soar of the US dollar against the local guaraní during a whole week, the Association of Importers and Traders of Paraguay (Asimcopar) said it feared the current trend might hit year-ending sales, which largely feature imported items.
During his appearance at the Expo Real Estate event, Argentine President Javier Milei explained Thursday his currency competition plan and also delved into the matter of closing down the Central Bank, one of his main campaign promises. The head of state also stressed that thanks to the economic adjustment undertaken by his administration a debt rollover for part of 2025 had been guaranteed.
The economy in South America's largest country is taking a shaky turn as Friday's figures would indicate. The exchange rate between the local real (R$) and the US dollar (US$) went up 15.15% over the past six months, closing at US$ 1 = R$ 5.58 while the Stock market fell 0.32% for a 1.49% monthly gain. On the brighter side, unemployment in the quarter ending in May stood at 7.1%, according to Brazil's Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), a considerable improvement from February's 7.8% and the yoy 8.3%.
The Argentine peso kept sinking Thursday against the US dollar with the blue (a euphemism for black market) rate hitting AR$ 440 before closing at AR$ 437/AR$ 432 (buy/sale).
The Government of Argentina announced during the weekend the creation of yet another foreign currency exchange rate; one to be applied particularly to wine exports, effective next month.
The Ukraine war which has impacted on Russian markets and particularly the plunge of the ruble, should not be a major cause of concern for China-Russia bilateral trade since a growing percentage of business is done with the Chinese currency Yuan, as the two countries move towards de-dollarization, according to financial circles in Beijing.
The commercial dollar traded Tuesday in Brazil at R $ 5.561, a 0.61% increase compared to the previous day after pressure from international markets played their part.
Argentina's Central Bank (BCRA) Thursday ordered banking institutions nationwide not to increase their holdings in foreign currency until the end of the month, amid a market pressure on the exchange rate.
The Consumer Prices Index, CPI, in Chile climbed 0,4% during August totaling 3,2% so far this year and 4,8% in the last twelve months, according to the country's stats office. It is the highest since January 2016, and the tendency is to continue increasing, as had been anticipated by the Central Bank. Likewise with the US dollar.