Argentina lifts rates, devalues currency after shock election result
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The news: Argentina has hiked its key interest rate and devalued the peso by 18% in the aftermath of a shock primary election.
The numbers: The peso has been devalued to 350 a dollar compared to 287/dollar on Friday, while the benchmark interest rate has been raised to 118% from 97% previously.
The context: Latin America's third-biggest economy is battling a severe economic crisis with sky-high inflation and dwindling central bank reserves. The latest decisions come after a stronger-than-expected performance in Sunday’s primary election by right wing libertarian candidate Javier Milei, who wants to dollarise the economy and abolish the central bank, which prompted Argentinians to rush to buy dollars in the parallel market.
