BUENOS AIRES – Argentina’s peso continued its downward slide on Monday, reaching a record low of 26.44 pesos against the U.S. dollar, according to the Argentine central bank.
The peso dipped 49 cents, despite Argentina’s announcement last week that it had secured a 50-billion-dollar loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that was supposed to help shore up confidence in the nation’s economy.
“Without an official ceiling, the dollar again took flight and reached a new record high,” Argentine daily La Nacion reported, while the daily business newspaper Cronista Comercial said “the dollar took another big leap and ended up at 26.44.”
The IMF loan to Argentina will last 36 months and will be paid in installments, beginning on June 20. The first share will see Argentina receive 30 percent of the total, or around 15 billion dollars.
One of the conditions imposed by the IMF is to see Argentina’s primary fiscal deficit reduced to 1.3 percent of its gross domestic product by 2019 and to reach balanced accounts in 2020.
Furthermore, it has demanded greater autonomy for the central bank. Other conditions placed by the IMF in exchange for the credit line include preventing the central bank from further monetizing the country’s deficit.
In mid-May, the government announced the country had overcome the “exchange rate volatility” that saw the peso devalue more than 20 percent against the dollar.
