©Reuters. Unstoppable dollar in Latin America, with historical highs in Chile and Colombia
Editorial America, Jul 6 (.).- Today the dollar continued its unstoppable rise in Latin America and this Wednesday it reached record highs in Chile and Colombia, in the midst of a world scenario marked by nervousness over a possible recession in the United States and adverse political and economic situations in some countries of the region.
The US currency was quoted around noon at 1,000 Chilean pesos and closed the day at 965 pesos, a new historical maximum in the midst of a global strengthening of the currency and before the decline in the value of the , the country’s main export.
The US currency fluctuated between 954 pesos and 1,000 pesos, according to local operators, and grew 1.36% compared to the previous day, when it closed at 953 Chilean pesos per dollar.
POLITICAL UNCERTAINTY HITTING, ACCORDING TO BORIC
The Chilean president, Gabriel Boric, blamed the increase on external factors but also on the “uncertainty” generated by a possible change in the constitutional norm, since on September 4 the Magna Carta project presented publicly yesterday will be voted in a plebiscite. that was elaborated during a year by the Constitutional Convention.
“(The appreciation of the dollar) is tremendously worrying. There are different causes: the drop in the price of copper, on the one hand (…) Now, there are also internal factors and in this uncertainty, without a doubt, contributes”, consider’Boric.
“It is important that the different political actors give signs of certainty,” added the Chilean president on the same day that the electoral campaign for the plebiscite began.
For his part, the Minister of Finance, Mario Marcel, tried to reassure the market by stating that “the factors that in the past made Chile especially vulnerable to the exchange rate are no longer there today.”
DOLLAR, MORE THAN 4,300 PESOS IN COLOMBIA
Colombia also registered today the arrival of the dollar at the highest rate in its history, of 4,353 pesos, after two weeks transferring 4,000 units, according to monitoring by the Central Bank of the Republic.
The representative rate of the current market, according to the Bank of the Republic, was 4,259.86 pesos, while in some exchange houses it was sold unprecedentedly below the market value, at between 4,140 and 4,170 dollars.
The US currency began to rise sharply on June 21, the day the markets opened after the second round of the presidential elections, in which the winner was the leftist candidate, Gustavo Petro.
According to the central bank, the devaluation of the Colombian peso so far this year is 7%, while in the last twelve months, the currency has lost 12.78% of its value.
ARGENTINA AND ITS HARSH RESTRICTIONS
In Argentina, the continuous devaluation of the peso against the dollar and the shortage of international reserves that the Central Bank has been dragging on for almost three years has maintained harsh restrictions and taxes on the sale of dollars in the official market.
This means that individuals and companies must resort to alternative channels such as the so-called “financial dollars” or the “black market”, where the parallel dollar, also called “blue”, is sold.
That is why in the controlled official price, the dollar has appreciated by 1.34% since last Friday -from 130.25 pesos per dollar to 132 this Wednesday-, while in the parallel market, the US currency went from be sold at 239 pesos last Friday to 280 pesos this Monday, to drop to 250 today Wednesday, that is, a final appreciation in three days of 4.60%.
In addition to the usual distrust in the , the rise in the dollar in recent days is also motivated by the effect that the worsening of the internal political crisis suffered by the Government has had on the markets, after last Saturday the Minister of Economy , Martín Guzmán, will resign amid strong divisions in the ruling party.
FIFTH DAY OF DEVALUATION OF THE MEXICAN PESO
On the other hand, the closed this Wednesday at 20.69 units per dollar, according to official data from the Bank of Mexico (Banxico), which implies its fifth consecutive day of depreciation and its worst level since March.
The data supposes a weekly depreciation of the Mexican currency of 2.83%, compared to the record of the previous Wednesday -when the exchange rate closed at 20.12-, in addition to a daily loss of 0.53% compared to Tuesday, when was quoted at 20.58.
“Increasing exchange rate volatility and concerns about a possible recession may take the exchange rate to the level of 21 pesos per dollar in the short term,” said Gabriela Siller, director of economic analysis at Banco Base.
In any case, the Mexican peso is still far from its worst level so far this year, when on March 8 it was exchanged at 21.38 units per US bill, in contrast to its best level on May 30, when it marked a price of 19.5 pesos per dollar, according to Banxico.
PERU AND BRAZIL ARE NO EXCEPTION
In Peru, the exchange rate closed today at 3.89 soles, the highest price of the year since last January, which represents a rise in the price of the dollar of 0.90% compared to Tuesday, according to the Central Bank of Peru. Reserve (BCRP).
However, the price of the sol per dollar has fallen by 1.62% in the last twelve months and by 2.41% so far in 2022, according to the issuing entity, since it has not returned to exceed 4 soles per dollar. dollar that marked last year after the election of the leftist candidate for the Presidency, Pedro Castillo.
Meanwhile, in Brazil, the dollar has strengthened in recent days, after falling 6.2% in the first half of the year, amid increased concern about the direction of the country’s fiscal accounts and the growing risk of a global recession.
The greenback appreciated 0.60% against the real on Wednesday and was trading at 5.421 reais for both purchase and sale at the commercial exchange rate, the highest level since January. In the last week, the US currency has already accumulated a rise of 3.6%.
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