Argentina to Sell Dollars on Parallel Market as Part of Anti-inflation Drive

Argentina's President Javier Milei attends an event commemorating the 208th anniversary of the country's independence from Spain in 1816, in Buenos Aires, Argentina July 9, 2024. REUTERS/Matias Baglietto
Argentina's President Javier Milei attends an event commemorating the 208th anniversary of the country's independence from Spain in 1816, in Buenos Aires, Argentina July 9, 2024. REUTERS/Matias Baglietto
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Argentina to Sell Dollars on Parallel Market as Part of Anti-inflation Drive

Argentina's President Javier Milei attends an event commemorating the 208th anniversary of the country's independence from Spain in 1816, in Buenos Aires, Argentina July 9, 2024. REUTERS/Matias Baglietto
Argentina's President Javier Milei attends an event commemorating the 208th anniversary of the country's independence from Spain in 1816, in Buenos Aires, Argentina July 9, 2024. REUTERS/Matias Baglietto

Argentina's central bank will start selling US dollars in the country's parallel foreign exchange markets in an effort to combat inflation and freeze the country's money supply, the government said.
Economy Minister Luis Caputo announced the new strategy on messaging platform X on Saturday, saying it would "contribute to deepening the disinflation process."
Starting Monday, when Argentina's central bank issues pesos to buy US dollars on the formal exchange market, the bank will effectively balance Argentina's monetary base by selling an equivalent amount of dollars on the parallel "CCL" exchange market, Reuters quoted Caputo as saying.
"There are no more pesos printed in Argentina by any means. It is a historic novelty," Caputo later said in a radio interview. "We were beating inflation by (a few) points and this is the 'knock out' blow," the minister added.
The announcement comes after official data published on Friday showed a five-month streak of slowing inflation ended in June when monthly inflation came in higher than in May.
The strategy outlined by the government of President Javier Milei aims to stabilize the money supply, bring down inflation and help close the widening gap between Argentina's official and parallel exchange rates traded in financial markets.
The South American country's peso has been sliding since the beginning of the year in parallel markets, which for years has diverged sharply from the official rate due to strict currency controls.
At Friday's close, the official exchange rate traded at 919.5 pesos per dollar, while the so-called "CCL" rate traded at 1,416.2 pesos per dollar. Meanwhile, the widely-used black market "blue" rate weakened to a historic low of 1,500 pesos per dollar on Friday.
Milei celebrated Saturday's announcement from the sidelines of the Sun Valley Conference, investment bank Allen & Co's annual invitation-only gathering in Sun Valley, Idaho, where the president and Caputo are courting investors.
"The monetary base in Argentina is no longer increasing, and this is tremendously powerful news," Milei said during a phone interview with Argentine news channel LN+, adding that the plan would "accelerate the deflation process in the economy."
Since Milei took power late last year, inflation has slowed dramatically in Argentina, decelerating from 25.5% in December to 4.2% in May. June's figure was 4.6%.



Gold Gains on Fed Rate Cut Hopes

Gold bars from the vault of a bank are seen in this illustration picture taken in Zurich November 20, 2014. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo
Gold bars from the vault of a bank are seen in this illustration picture taken in Zurich November 20, 2014. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo
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Gold Gains on Fed Rate Cut Hopes

Gold bars from the vault of a bank are seen in this illustration picture taken in Zurich November 20, 2014. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo
Gold bars from the vault of a bank are seen in this illustration picture taken in Zurich November 20, 2014. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo

Gold prices rose on Thursday on expectations of a US Federal Reserve rate cut next week, while palladium hit its highest in more than two months due to supply concerns from top producer Russia.
Spot gold was up 0.3% at $2,517.88 per ounce by 0942 GMT, supported by the 21-day moving average at $2,505, Reuters reported.
US consumer prices rose marginally in August, but underlying inflation signaled some stickiness, which could result in the Fed delivering a smaller 25-basis-point cut at its meeting next week.
"Judging by gold's reaction to the latest US inflation data, it seems as if today's expectations of moderately lower US interest rates are sufficient to support prices around current levels of $2,500 per ounce at least in the short term," said Carsten Menke, an analyst at Julius Baer.
Traders are waiting for the US Producer Price Index (PPI) for August, the initial jobless claims print due later today and the consumer sentiment data on Friday for more clues on the Fed's path.
Palladium gained 0.6% to $1,014 per ounce. It earlier hit $1,030.68, the highest since July 8, on supply concerns after Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday said that Moscow should consider limiting exports of uranium, titanium and nickel.
"Palladium is the market that is up for a short-covering rally. Putin did not mention palladium. But since the metal is a by-product of Russian nickel production, such export curbs could drive down production of both metals and deepen the current deficit in the palladium market," said WisdomTree commodity strategist Nitesh Shah.
Russia's Nornickel is the world's largest producer of palladium and a major producer of platinum, accounting for 41% and 12% of global mining output, respectively.
Spot silver added 0.4% to $28.81 and platinum gained 0.3% to $953.79.