Argentine peso under pressure again

- The Argentine peso was under heavy pressure again on Thursday and lost almost 5 percent in value against the dollar. The country has asked the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to accelerate an earlier pledged emergency loan of 50 billion dollars. According to Argentine President Mauricio Macri, this is necessary to secure financing for 2019 and to prevent a new crisis in the South American country.

The IMF responded positively to this under conditions. The Argentines need the money to stop the decline of the value of the peso. The rate of the currency has already plummeted, comparable to the Turkish lira. At the same time, prices for consumers are rising sharply and investor confidence in the Argentine economy continues to fall.

The 50 billion dollar loan is the largest in the history of the IMF. From the amount, Argentina could immediately have 15 billion in June, half of which was intended to support the budget. The remaining 35 billion would be made available during the three-year term of the loan, depending on interim assessments by the money provider from Washington.

The South American country did not want to do business with the IMF for a long time. Many Argentines believe that the economic crisis in the country in 2001-2002 was due to the strict measures imposed by the fund. There was therefore a strong protest against the new interference by the IMF.

In a reaction to the firm decline in the value of the peso, the central bank of Argentina raised its main interest rate by a sloppy 15 percentage points to 60 percent.