The U.S. dollar made headlines in Argentina again on Friday after ending the week at an all-time high in nominal terms.
The wholesale exchange rate, available only to banks, large companies, and the government, closed at AR$1,512. Throughout the week, it had reached AR$1,514, its highest level in nominal terms.
This is no small matter. Since late July and throughout much of August, the government has intervened every time the currency approached the AR$1,500 mark. This is seen as a “psychological barrier” of sorts for the market given that the upper limit of the dollar’s floating exchange rate system is much higher (it currently stands at AR$1,844).
These results, however, seem to indicate that this strategy might be shifting. This week marked the first time in nearly a month that the wholesale dollar remained above AR$1,500 during all five trading days on Argentina’s foreign exchange market.
So far in August, the wholesale dollar has risen 1.7%. Looking at just the last week, it is clear that the increases were concentrated in that period (+1.3%).
