BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Argentina’s black market peso strengthened against the U.S. dollar on Monday while local stocks suffered after new economic measures introduced by President Javier Milei’s government over the weekend took effect.
Argentina’s economy minister on Saturday announced a plan to halt expansion of the monetary base in a bid to combat inflation. The next day he announced the purchase of $1.5 billion from the central bank to pay interest on bonds due in January.
The peso extended gains to 6.01% at 1,415 pesos per dollar, after rising about 2% in early trade.
The difference between the exchange rate on the black market (the “blue”) and the official rate decreased slightly, reaching 53%, after reaching about 60% last week.
“The announced measures can only be considered positive if the gap narrows significantly in the coming days and inflation declines in the coming months,” said local clearing and settlement agent Nix.
The benchmark Merval index fell more than 12% while over-the-counter bonds fell 3%.