Argentine Peso Falls to Record as Inflation Expectations Rise
- President Macri raising energy tariffs and reducing subsidies
- Cuts to utility subsidies expected to push up cost of living
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Argentina’s peso closed at a record low as expectations that price rises would accelerate spurred demand for dollars.
The Argentine peso slid 0.9 percent to 13.96 pesos per dollar on Friday after President Mauricio Macri removed most utility subsidies and raised tariffs on wholesale energy prices. Macri is fulfilling a promise to unfreeze utility tariffs, which have been largely stagnant since 2002, to help close the country’s fiscal deficit. The move is expected to fuel faster consumer price increases, which has boost demand in for greenbacks, according to Gustavo Quintana, a currency trader in Buenos Aires at Rabello & Cia.