Argentina’s peso plunged on the black market this week after months of stability, creating a potential stumbling block for libertarian president Javier Milei’s plans to remove currency controls.
The peso has fallen more than 15 per cent against the dollar over the last week to a record low of 1,300 on the black market, where Argentines go to sell their chronically depreciating pesos.
The fall was the fastest in a seven-day period since a volatile period shortly after Milei took office in December.
Analysts said the volatility was largely the result of increasingly aggressive interest rate cuts by Argentina’s central bank, which has slashed the benchmark rate from 70 per cent to 40 per cent in just over a month.
The cuts are central to Milei’s highly technical strategy for putting an end to money printing — the root cause of Argentina’s chronic inflation. The annual rate hit 289 per cent in April.
On a parallel financial market used by traders and some businesses, the peso has fallen 12 per cent in a week to a near record low of 1247 pesos per dollar, with losses levelling off on Thursday.
