The informal exchange rate popularly known as the “blue dollar” reached its second record high in less than a week, hitting AR$845 on Wednesday. It rose by AR$38 during the day, a 4.7% increase from Tuesday.

The government has held the official exchange rate at AR$350 since August 14. This means the difference between the two (known in Spanish as the brecha) is 141.4% — the largest since former Economy Minister Martín Guzmán’s untimely resignation in July 2022 and the ensuing crisis.

The blue-chip swap rate broke a record of its own, surpassing the AR$900 mark for the first time ever, and closed at AR$901.4 — a 7.6% increase from Tuesday. Known as contado con liqui in Argentina, the blue-chip swap rate is used in the financial world. It is obtained by investors buying shares and financial instruments in pesos and selling them in dollars on the international market. The blue-chip swap rate is the implicit exchange rate in that operation.

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Analysts told the Herald last week that several factors weigh on the peso: the recent 22% devaluation and subsequent “compensatory measures,” the international reserve scarcity crisis, and presidential candidate Javier Milei’s dollarization proposal all continue to weaken the currency.

The country’s net reserves are minus US$5.1 billion, according to calculations by consulting firm Ecolatina. The Central Bank had a US$80 million negative balance on Wednesday, breaking a 35-day streak of buying more US dollars than what it sold.

“The Central Bank ended the day with sales for US$ 80 million to meet market needs. This is the highest amount of sales since August 11,” said Gustavo Quintana, an analyst and broker for PR Corredores de Cambio, on X (formerly Twitter).

With the purpose of maintaining the flow of dollars, the government decreed on Monday the extension of the Export Increase Program (PIE) until October 25, which grants soybean exporters direct access to 25% of their dollar earnings.

— with information from Télam