BUENOS AIRES: Argentina's peso hit a record low on Friday as investors moved into dollar-denominated assets despite central bank intervention and ongoing talks between the government and International Monetary Fund over a financing deal for the South American country.
Argentina requested a "high access stand-by arrangement" from the IMF earlier this week after the peso depreciated rapidly, prompting the central bank to sell reserves and hike interest rates to 40 percent in a bid to stop the slide and contain one of the world's highest inflation rates.
After meeting with Treasury Minister Nicolas Dujovne, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said on Thursday that both hoped to "reach a rapid conclusion to these discussions."
The currency closed flat on Thursday, breaking a three-day slide, as the central bank sold $139.5 million into the market. Traders said the monetary authority returned to the foreign exchange market to sell reserves on Friday, but could not stop the peso's slide.
The currency opened down 1.9 percent at 23.15 per dollar on Friday, and hit a record low of 24.50 in the early afternoon. It was trading down 4.8 percent at 23.80 as of 12:50 p.m. local time (1550 GMT).
A central bank spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Merval stock index was down 0.2 percent, paring gains after opening up 2.2 percent. Argentine stocks have rallied on the news of the potential IMF deal and Congress' approval of a capital markets reform bill earlier this week.
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