Argentina’s central bank to curb dollar outflow

Bloomberg

Argentina’s central bank tightened access to hard currency further, the latest attempt by the crisis-prone country to contain dwindling reserves amid the growing devaluation expectations.
The central bank published one rule change affecting banks and another affecting consumers, as it tries to preserve its store of dollars to help defend the value of the peso.
The measures follow midterm elections this month in which the government lost control of the upper chamber of congress, and come at a time in which authorities are expected to step up negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over above $40 billion in payments owed. It also adds to a string of existing currency restrictions, as savers seek refuge in hard currency amid inflation running at 50% annually.
“Argentina is advancing with IMF talks and that requires robust reserves,” Chief presidential spokeswoman Gabriela Cerruti told reporters, when asked about measures impacting travel abroad.
The spot peso, which is controlled by the central bank through a crawling peg, fell 0.1% to 100.8 per dollar. The black-market peso, traded through informal exchange houses, weakened 0.5% further to 201 pesos per dollar.
In the measure targeted at consumers, the central bank said it will ban credit card operators from financing payments through installment plans if these are intended for tourism abroad, including plane tickets and car rentals.