US President Donald Trump suggested the US$20-billion lifeline the United States is planning for Argentina could be contingent on libertarian leader Javier Milei’s success in the midterm elections, sending fresh jitters through the currency market.
“If he wins we’re staying with him, and if he doesn’t win we’re gone,” Trump told reporters Tuesday, adding that the governments also planned to discuss a potential free-trade agreement.
Short-term peso interest rates jumped back into the triple digits as neither the US nor Argentina intervened in the currency market for a second straight trading day. Argentina’s bonds dropped across the curve, reversing earlier gains.
While Trump at other points batted away suggestions that US assistance was intended to boost Milei politically, he also repeatedly emphasised that the US$20–billion currency swap – meant to help shore up Argentina’s peso and calm financial markets in the South American nation – was intended as a signal of support for the Argentine leader’s economic philosophy.
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