A video of an armored truck carrying some 1500 gold bars from Argentina's Central Bank (BCRA) to the Ezeiza International Airport went viral Monday as the third such shipment -worth around US$ 250 million- was presumed to have left for London, it was reported in Buenos Aires. No special security was seen around the vehicle on the highway leading to the air terminal.
Argentina's Economy Minister Luis Toto Caputo confirmed rumors from opposition lawmakers and union leaders indicating that the Central Bank (BCRA) was transferring gold from the country's coffers to foreign destinations. He explained that the move sought to generate a return on an otherwise unproductive metal.
Argentina's Central Bank (BCRA) once again lowered the benchmark interest rate from 60% to 50%. It was the fifth cutdown since the Libertarian administration of President Javier Milei took office in December last year. Thus, yields from fixed-term deposits will fall monthly from the current 5% per month to 4.2% for an annual effective rate of 64.8%.
Argentina's Central Bank (BCRA) this week lowered the benchmark interest rate by another 10 percentage points to 60% annually, it was reported in Buenos Aires. It was the fourth such cut since Javier Milei took office on December 10, 2023, when the rate stood at 133%. BCRA announces that as of 04-25-2024, the rate for 1-business-day maturity passive operations will be 60%, it said in a statement. It was also the second 10-point cut in April alone.
Argentine central bank international reserves stand at US$ 46.885 million following on Monday's rescue of different maturing bonds and support in the local market to help stabilize the price of the US dollar. This demanded some US$ 600 million.
Argentina's central bank this week announced further currency controls in an effort to tame speculation and stem a spiraling debt crisis in Latin America's third-largest economy.
Brazil’s central bank has denied any planning is underway to create a monetary union with Argentina, after a spokesman for the government in Buenos Aires said on Thursday it was the case.
The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) completed on Friday the third review of Argentina’s economic performance under the 36-month Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) that was approved on June 20, 2018. The completion of the review allows the authorities to draw the equivalent of SDR 7.8 billion (about US$10.8 billion), bringing total purchases since June 2018 to SDR 28.01371 billion (about US$38.9 billion).
In Uruguay, the dollar traded at noon on the state bank Banco Republica (Brou) board at $ 33.20 for the purchase and $ 34.60 for the sale, 45 cents above the close price on Tuesday. On the board of private exchanges, the currency to the public came to sell at $ 34.80 and $ 34.90.
The International Monetary Fund has completed its second review of Argentina, the fund said on Monday, paving the way for the country to receive US$7.6 billion under a US$ 56.3 billion financing deal.