Almost as happens cyclically in Argentina, the dollar has once again been one of the most important economic issues in Argentina in recent days. Both the parallel and the financial ones seem to have left behind the tranquility of recent months, amid political tensions and the lack of incentives for bank deposits in pesos. Yesterday, in fact, the price of the parallel reached its highest price since January 25 and closed at $1,230, with an increase of 4.25%.
And, as almost always, when the price of alternative dollars begins to move, the biggest question is whether there will be a transfer to the prices of the everyday economy. However, the Government today completely ruled out that possibility, and even minimized the fluctuations.
“The price was without much variation for a long time. There is no reason for this to have any implication on prices beyond the inflationary process we are experiencing. due to the imbalances that occurred in monetary and fiscal matters in Argentina,” said presidential spokesperson Manuel Adorni today, when asked in his usual press conference if the Government is alert to a possible impact on inflation.
Immediately, the spokesperson confirmed that idea: “So that people are calm, The price of the financial dollar or the blue dollar has nothing to do with prices, which does not mean that the price dynamics are in high numbers but that has nothing to do with this. When there was no movement in the dollar, there was inflation. So there is effectively no relationship between one and the other.”
At the close of yesterday’s financial day, the informal currency accumulated a increase of 190 pesos or 18.3% in May, above the estimated inflation. With a wholesale dollar at 889 pesos the exchange gap reached 38.4%, the widest since February 7, 2024 (40.9%). The recent rise was also transferred to financial dollars, with a “settled cash” again at $1,200, a maximum since February 9. At today’s opening, the price of the free currency rose again and reached $1,240.
“The dollar is just another price in the economy, it is nothing more than a good that you can buy in the supermarket or a service that you can pay for. The difference is that the dollar is a financial asset and has some type of reaction different from what other assets may have,” said Adorni today, who also assured that there will be no official intervention in the markets to avoid an escalation of the dollar.
Beyond the alternative, stock market dollars also showed increases in recent days. The “cash with settlement” closed yesterday with a rise of 1.9% to $1,163, while the MEP dollar gained 2.7% and reached $1,137, in both cases at maximums since February 9.
“The lowering of rates and the crawling peg 2% monthly for the official dollar – the market buys that it will be like this until July and then sees 4% to 5% – They are not compatible with an exit from the ‘traps’”noted a report prepared jointly by the Argentine Institute of Finance Executives (IAEF) and the consultant Econviews.
President Milei declared in the morning during a television interview that He was not worried about the parallel dollar and explained that the BCRA publishes the purchase of reserves, the interest rate and the official exchange rate daily: “I have a PAIS tax of 17.5% (for imports). That gives you a exchange rate of 1,090 pesos. That’s what it is for us (it is) the official exchange rate”.
