What was the exchange rate when Milei came into office?

Argentina’s official exchange rate weakened strongly in the days following Javier Milei’s inauguration on December 10, 2023 – at the end of the first day in office it stood at 462.40 pesos per dollar but had already reached 838.18 per greenback by December 15.

The devaluation, applied as part of the new government’s stabilisation plan, doubled the official exchange rate within days. On December 7, the last working day before the transition, the dollar had sold for 400.50 pesos. 

With the Central Bank measure announced that week, the surge now culminating with the elimination of ‘cepo’ currency and capital controls has accelerated.

Following the lifting of the cepo, the dollar now operates within a band of between 1,000 and 1,400 pesos, permitting unrestricted access for human persons via MLC (Mercado Libre de Cambios)

For reference, during the presidency of Alberto Fernández, the official exchange rate went from 63 pesos per dollar in 2019 to 400 pesos per greenback in December, 2023.

The Peronist leader completed his term with a cepo limiting access to currency. Milei’s La Libertad Avanza government, in contrast, has opted to free the exchange markets, in line with the agreement signed with the International Monetary Fund.

– TIMES/NA