Nora Mazzini
- The Argentine peso sank 10% Tuesday in the parallel black market to a record low of 1,050 per dollar.
- Presidential frontrunner Javier Milei urged Argentines not to save in peso-denominated instruments.
- But most of Argentina's corporate leaders disapprove of full dollarization.
As the Argentine presidential election draws closer, frontrunner Javier Milei's latest comments sent the peso plummeting against the US dollar.
That's as the libertarian candidate has campaigned on a platform that includes dollarizing the Argentine economy, with plans to scrap the peso entirely.
"The peso is a currency emitted by Argentine politicians, so it can't be worth excrement, because those pieces of trash don't even work as fertilizers," he said Monday, warning citizens to not hold savings in the local currency.
The peso sank 10% Tuesday in the parallel free-floating black market to a record low of 1,050 per dollar. That's compared to the official exchange rate, which has been fixed at 365 pesos to the dollar since August.
But while Milei leads in polls ahead of the October 22 election, not everyone is onboard with his idea to abandon the peso.
Business leaders surveyed at a Mar del Plata corporate summit were largely opposed to full dollarization. Of 125 respondents, only two were in favor of the move, according to Reuters.
Instead, most hoped to see the peso stick around, as a way to maintain monetary autonomy and exchange rate competitiveness. If Argentina relied only on the dollar, it would cede monetary control to the US Federal Reserve.
For this reason, 80% of respondents showed preference for a Patricia Bullrich presidency. The conservative candidate is Milei's leading opponent, and has proposed dollarizing Argentina, but without giving up the peso. Only 7% of those surveyed favored Milei.
Both proposals are a response to economic turmoil that is widespread in Argentina, burdened by a 134% inflation rate and interest rates at 118%.
In response, dollar use has sprouted among Argentines, with some firms in the country partially paying salaries in the more stable greenback.