Argentina’s informal peso down 2.05%, country risk widens to all time high

FAN Editor
FILE PHOTO: A customer asks for prices at a greengrocery store in a street market, in Buenos Aires
FILE PHOTO: A customer asks for prices at a greengrocery store in a street market, in Buenos Aires, Argentina June 15, 2021. Picture taken June 15, 2021. REUTERS/Agustin Marcarian/File Photo

October 22, 2021

By Jorge Otaola and Walter Bianchi

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Argentina’s informal peso rate weakened 2.05% to 195 per dollar on Friday and country risk shot out 19 basis points to an all-time high 1,672 as inflation soars and policy uncertainty mounts ahead of November congressional elections.

“It reflects the process of dollarization at a time of political and economic uncertainty,” local economist Gustavo Ber told Reuters.

The peso stumbled 4.36% during the week, its weakest in about a year, marking a 96.2% gap with the formal rate, which is controlled by central bank interventions.

The country’s risk spread, prepared by JP Morgan, exceeded its previous ceiling of 1,669 basis points, reached at the end of March of this year.

Consumer prices spiked to a higher-than-expected 3.5% in September. The 12-month rate was 52.5%, while inflation in the first nine months of 2021 reached 37%.

Argentina has been battling runaway inflation for years, which saps savings, incomes and economic growth. The government this week froze prices of over a thousand household goods until early 2022. Inflation is also heating up globally.

Argentines will vote in November to elect half of the lower house of Congress and a third of the Senate. Government-allied candidates got thumped in September primary elections, prompting a rash of finger-pointing in the ruling Peronist coalition.

(Reporting by Jorge Otaola and Walter Bianchi; writing by Hugh Bronstein; Editing by Sandra Maler)

Free America Network Articles

Leave a Reply

Next Post

Former Giuliani associate Lev Parnas found guilty of unlawful campaign donations

Parnas’ donations included contributions to two pro-Trump super PACs. October 22, 2021, 8:45 PM • 3 min read Share to FacebookShare to TwitterEmail this article Soviet-born businessman Lev Parnas, a former associate of Rudy Giuliani, was found guilty Friday of making unlawful campaign donations totaling more than $350,000 to two […]