Argentina Seeks Larger IMF Disbursement After 18% Devaluation

  • Government weakens official peso rate after Milei primary win
  • Argentina expected to receive $7.5 billion from IMF this month
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Argentina intends to ask the International Monetary Fund to increase a disbursement planned for later this month by an unspecified amount, a senior government official said after the central bank was forced to devalue its official exchange rate by 18%.

The peso’s sharp devaluation on Monday was all but unavoidable after investors, caught off guard by the unexpected primary victory of outsider candidate Javier Milei, pushed the currency to record-low levels in parallel markets. Argentina’s central bank is running out of reserves to support the peso in the foreign exchange market.