Uruguay’s push to de-dollarise boosted by new money market funds

Investors in Uruguay are parking more of their wealth in peso-denominated money market funds and government bonds, adding momentum to the South American safe haven’s push to reduce its dependence on the dollar.

At least seven money market funds in pesos are operating this year, roughly double the figure from 2025 as brokerages like Balanz and Puente and fintechs such as MercadoLibre Inc and Prex compete to capture the growing appetite for Uruguay’s cash. All four opened money market funds this year that invest in fixed-rate peso securities, a novelty for a nation where people overwhelmingly save in greenbacks.

It marks a vote of confidence in Uruguay’s peso thanks to an unprecedented period of tame inflation and anchored price expectations. Investments in domestic peso securities have tripled in the last two years to over 14 billion pesos (US$348 million) at the end of May, according to official data.

The trend plays right into the playbook of Central Bank Chairman Guillermo Tolosa, who has made de-dollarising a priority. Tolosa has the opposite approach of neighbouring Argentina where President Javier Milei want to encourage citizens to transact, save and make payments in dollars. Companies that operate in both countries are noticing the appetite for Uruguay’s peso.

Balanz’s money market fund that invests almost exclusively in the central bank’s peso notes has more than 155 million pesos in assets and 350 clients since it opened in March, country manager Juan José Varela said.

“It has helped us reach retail investors,” Varela said in an interview at his office in Montevideo. “We have opened a lot of accounts for investors with small amounts that had their funds in checking accounts at banks that didn’t pay interest.”

Uruguay, home to tech billionaires and South America’s version of the Hamptons, has enjoyed economic and political stability that’s eluded its neighbours Argentina and Brazil in recent decades. Yet Uruguayans remain wary of saving in pesos due to a toxic legacy of devaluations and high inflation from decades ago. ATMs still dispense pesos and dollars, while big-ticket items such as cars and property are priced in greenbacks.

The tide is starting to turn in the peso’s favour. A strong currency and tight monetary policy have helped keep inflation around the central bank’s three percent to six percent tolerance range for three years. Uruguayans also expect price increases to stay around the 4.5 percent target in the foreseeable future.

Investors are taking notice. As investments in pesos have surged, the share of private sector bank deposits held in foreign currency fell to about 69 percent in June from around 73 percent when Tolosa took over the central bank in March 2025.

Broker Gletir Corredor de Bolsa was an early player in the peso money market industry, launching its fund in 2022. Growth was initially slow, but cooling inflation and a weak dollar helped it capture more than 3,000 clients and 896 million pesos in assets, said Monica Saravia, who manages the broker’s Centenario mutual fund family.

Gletir used its expertise to help structure and manage Prex’s money market fund, which already has peso savings equivalent to about US$35 million since it launched in April, she said.

“We’ve achieved broad adoption, where many people who would never have imagined investing are now doing so with as little as 1,000 pesos,” Gletir portfolio manager Gabriel Genta said about Prex’s fund.

Dedollarising the debt

Growing investor confidence in the peso is also helping the government reduce its dependence on dollar funding. Nearly 57 percent of the government’s total debt is now denominated in pesos, up more than four percentage points since the end of 2024.

Fixed-rate peso securities accounted for more than half of the US$2.1 billion in local-currency domestic bonds issued this year through July. That marks a major shift from just a few years ago, when investors overwhelmingly sought the protection of peso bonds indexed to inflation and wages.

The government is reducing its exposure to foreign currency risk by issuing more fixed-rate peso debt, the Finance Ministry’s head of debt management Herman Kamil said.

“The trend toward dedollarisation in the economy, though it’s going to be gradual, bodes well for demand for our treasury notes in nominal pesos,” Kamil said in an interview.